One can argue that energy security is of greater importance than national security. A country can always defend or strike back in case of an invasion, just as Ukraine is pushing the Russians back. But, if someone pulls the plug on supplies of oil, coal or natural gas, as Russian supply cuts to Europe now and Saudi Arabia led oil embargo targeting western nations in 1973 show, there’s a nasty impact on a country’s economy, more so on developing nations like India.
Among all the major nations, both developed and developing, India is perhaps the most dependent on foreign fuels.