The US has issued a 30-day waiver allowing India to buy certain Russian crude as a temporary measure to keep oil moving amid a sharp slowdown in shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the waiver is limited to transactions involving oil already stranded at sea and “will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government.”
The decision aims to ease immediate energy-security strains caused by plunged maritime traffic in and out of the Persian Gulf. India has been buying discounted Russian crude in large volumes since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and has faced U.S. pressure — including tariffs and trade negotiations — to reduce those purchases. Some U.S. tariffs were recently eased following an interim U.S.-India trade agreement.
Raisina Dialogue delegates met in New Delhi for the event’s second day, drawing hundreds of diplomats and officials amid heightened regional tensions. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh delivered a stark address, calling recent U.S. actions “an existential war” for Iran, accusing the U.S. of attacks based on falsehoods, and saying Iran had been compelled to respond to U.S. strikes. He denied that Iran had closed the Strait of Hormuz and warned tankers linked to the U.S. or Israel could be blocked. Khatibzadeh also held a sideline meeting with India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
Regional incidents included Sri Lanka receiving more than 200 crew off the Iranian vessel IRIS Bushehr after the ship sought entry citing engine trouble. The move came in the aftermath of the reported sinking of the Iranian warship IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean by a U.S. torpedo, an episode that triggered regional search-and-rescue efforts involving India and Sri Lanka.
On domestic policy, Karnataka’s budget flagged a proposal to block social media access for children under 16, a measure Chief Minister Siddaramaiah framed as an attempt to limit mobile-related harm among youths. Civil liberties groups have raised questions about how the ban would be enforced, the reliability of age verification, privacy implications, and exemptions for educational use.
In energy policy, the central government has ordered refiners to maximize liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) output and to sell all LPG to state-owned distributors Indian Oil Corporation, BPCL and HPCL for domestic distribution. Refiners were also instructed not to divert propane and butane — key LPG components — to petrochemical feedstocks. Roughly 70–80% of Indian households use LPG for cooking; imports account for about two-thirds of consumption, with the Middle East supplying the bulk.
Other notable news: the Indian Air Force confirmed that two fighter pilots were killed in the crash of a Sukhoi-30 aircraft, a development listed among the day’s top stories.