Energy security is supreme priority, says MEA as India seeks to diversify sources amid global shifts

India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Saturday, 7 February 2026, said that the country's supreme priority is energy security for its 1.4 billion people, as the central government aims to diversify its energy sourcing needs, reported the news agency ANI.

According to the agency report, India is planning to diversify the country's energy sourcing requirements to several markets amid the prevailing market conditions and evolving global dynamics.

“Insofar as India’s energy sourcing is concerned, the government has stated publicly on several occasions that ensuring the energy security of 1.4 billion Indians is the supreme priority of the government. Diversifying our energy sourcing in keeping with objective market conditions and evolving international dynamics is at the core of our strategy to ensure this. All of India’s actions are taken and will be taken with this in mind,” said MEA on Saturday.

Although the Union Commerce Minister did not comment on any updates related to India's import of Russian oil amid the trade deal with the United States, but in an executive order the White House earlier announced to remove 25% additonal tariffs on all Indian imports, which was imposed over India buying oil from Russia.

What did Goyal say about precious metals?

Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, during his press conference after the trade deal announcement, said that the government plans to diversify the sources of purchasing precious metals. However, he also clarified that the government does not dictate purchases, and it's up to the commodity traders.

“Government doesn't dictate purchases, but if the deal is good, obviously, we want to diversify our sources. So if the gold or platinum importers are importing precious metals, I am sure they will be happy to import,” said Goyal during his media address.

$500 billion purchase plan

On Saturday, 7 February 2026, India announced its five-year plan to purchase items worth $500 billion from the United States, part of its upcoming bilateral trade agreement (BTA) deal with America.

Both nations entered into a long-awaited interim agreement, for which the negotiations started back on 13 February 2025.

“India intends to purchase $500 billion of U.S. energy products, aircraft and aircraft parts, precious metals, technology products, and coking coal over the next 5 years,” according to the joint statement released by India and the United States on Saturday.

India and the United States have also agreed to cut their tariffs while increasing their trade in the technological front, including Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and other goods used in data centres, and to expand joint technology cooperation.

Goyal also highlighted that this trade deal serves as a massive opportunity for India in modern areas such as data centres, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing, among other things.