NEW DELHI — One after the next, the entreaties have streamed into India. Buying Russian oil, President Joe Biden told India’s prime minister, is not in your country’s interest. Undermining sanctions, a U.S. official starkly warned, could bring “consequences.” Taking a harder line on Russia, a parade of American and European emissaries argued, is a global imperative.
But for India, the decision to hold tight to its neutrality on Russia’s war in Ukraine is no longer just about keeping its options open in a world with multiple centers of power. It has evolved into a lucrative case of economic opportunism: Russian oil is just too good a deal to pass up.
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