Russia urges India to deepen its investment in oil & gas sector

NEW DELHI: Russia urged India to deepen its investments in the sanction-hit country's oil and gas sector, and is keen on expanding the sales networks of Russian companies in Asia's third-largest economy.

Russia's economy faces its deepest crisis since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, as the West imposes severe sanctions over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reported.

Some western allies have encouraged India to condemn Russia's actions in Ukraine, after New Delhi abstained from voting against Moscow, a long-standing arms supplier, at the United Nations.

"Russia's oil and petroleum product exports to India have approached $1 billion, and there are clear opportunities to increase this figure," said Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, according to a statement shared by Russia's embassy in India late on Friday.

"We are interested in further attracting Indian investment to the Russian oil and gas sector and expanding Russian companies' sales networks in India," Novak told Indian Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.