Dhaka, March 21 -- On February 5, the European Union banned Russian fuels. India decided to import Russian crude oil at a 30 percent discount to strengthen its energy security. It started refining Russian oil to bolster its export to Europe. India's export of petroleum products to the EU countries rose 20.4 percent year-on-year in April-January to 11.6 million tonnes. In January 2023, India surpassed China to emerge as the largest importer of sea-borne Russian oil, which rose by 260kbd month-on-month in December to reach 1.2mbd in January. India had stopped importing oil from Iran earlier due to US sanctions. In the context of Russia, the United States has taken a lenient view of the import. However, India has strongly defended its decisi...