India is preparing to lean more on West Asian oil suppliers such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iraq, as the United States tightens the screws over its imports of Russian crude, reported Mint citing people familiar with the matter.

For years, India has balanced close partnerships with both Washington and Moscow, even throughout Ukraine war. Trump is finally demanding it picks a side

Russia and India stressed their commitment to a "strategic partnership" in bilateral security talks in Moscow on Thursday, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced higher tariffs on imports from India because of its purchases of Russian oil.