Three war zones. One energy lifeline. And a government trying to keep it from snapping.
On Thursday, PM Modi sat down with his top ministers for the 4th time this year to war-game one question: what happens if the world's oil chokepoints stay closed?
This wasn't a routine briefing.
It was the Cabinet Committee on Security — the room where India decides how to defend itself.
Picture India's energy supply as a series of narrow doors.
Three doors. All jammed at once.
And India imports 88% of its energy needs through them.
Here's the twist.
While the doors were closing, India was already slipping out the back.
70% of India's crude now arrives from outside the Strait of Hormuz — up dramatically from before the crisis.
Russian oil imports have nearly doubled.
Brazil, the US, and other Atlantic Basin suppliers have quietly filled the gap.
Diversification, it turns out, wasn't a buzzword. It was a survival plan.
In the room: Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, S. Jaishankar, Nirmala Sitharaman, and the ministers for petroleum, shipping, commerce and fertilisers.
The topic wasn't only barrels of crude.
It was people.
About 1 crore Indians live and work in West Asia.
Thousands more are seafarers, sailing straight into conflict zones on cargo and oil tankers — some already targeted by Houthi militants threatening Saudi vessels.
Modi's directive: build a single mechanism for real-time alerts, emergency help, and counselling for those seafarers and their families.
Modi's real message wasn't about this week's crisis.
It was about never depending on one door again.
Solar. Non-fossil fuels. A bigger National Gas Grid. Refineries already running past 100% utilisation just to stay ahead.
The war is still raging in the Strait, the Red Sea, and the Black Sea.
India, meanwhile, is quietly rewriting where its next barrel comes from.
That's all for now!
