Oil is a global market. India buying Russian oil means they aren’t buying it from the broader market. If they didn’t buy Russian oil they would buy it from the

Oil is a global market. India buying Russian oil means they aren’t buying it from the broader market. If they didn’t buy Russian oil they would buy it from the broader market increasing overall oil prices and inflation in Europe. More importantly, India is buying oil at a heavily discounted price, which at current prices means Russia is likely selling at a loss. This is working so well that Europe is trying to emulate something similar with their price cap idea, which is functionally similar to what India is doing, except India’s discount probably means an even lower price for Russia and India has been doing this successfully for 200+ days while it’s not clear Europe’s price cap idea will ever get off the ground.