London, Oct. 6 -- India would be better off accepting the risk of losing some access to the US market than abandoning Russian oil purchases if forced to choose between the two, political economist Gautam Sen said, arguing that a disruption to energy supplies could impose a much higher cost on the Indian economy.

The assessment highlights the difficult trade-off facing India as energy security becomes increasingly entangled with trade and geopolitics, even as the United States remains India's largest merchandise export market and New Delhi depends on imports for nearly nine-tenths of its crude oil requirement.

"It is better to accept the punishment of loss of markets. It's a question of two evils," Sen, a former London School of Economic...