In India’s interest to keep importing Russian oil: EAM Jaishankar | India News
NEW DELHI: Foreign minister S Jaishankar Tuesday strongly backed India’s increasing oil imports from Russia saying energy ties with Moscow have worked to India’s advantage and that it’s in India’s interest to keep the imports going.
Asked about the Western pressure on India to limit trade ties with Russia, after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, Jaishankar said India’s “fundamental obligation” is to ensure that the Indian consumer has the best possible access, on most advantageous terms, to international markets.
While reiterating PM Narendra Modi’s point that this isn’t the era of war, the minister also asserted that India will back any initiative on the Ukraine issue to de-risk the global economy and stabilise the global order. Russia, which accounted for 0.2% of India’s crude imports before the military conflict in Ukraine, emerged as India’s number one supplier last month with its share going up to 22 per cent.
“There is stress on the energy markets. As the world’s 3rd largest consumer of oil and gas – a consumer where the level of income is not very high – it is our fundamental obligation to ensure that the Indian consumer has the best possible access, on the most advantageous terms, to international markets. In that respect, we have quite honestly seen that the India-Russia relationship has worked to our advantage. If it works to my advantage, I would like to keep that going,” said Jaishankar after his meeting with Lavrov in Moscow, as he underlined the significance of India’s “time-tested” relationship with Russia.
Jaishankar’s remarks also came ahead of US treasury secretary Janet Yellen‘s visit to India later this week during which she’s likely to seek India’s support for a price cap on Russian oil.
Asked about the Western pressure on India to limit trade ties with Russia, after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, Jaishankar said India’s “fundamental obligation” is to ensure that the Indian consumer has the best possible access, on most advantageous terms, to international markets.
While reiterating PM Narendra Modi’s point that this isn’t the era of war, the minister also asserted that India will back any initiative on the Ukraine issue to de-risk the global economy and stabilise the global order. Russia, which accounted for 0.2% of India’s crude imports before the military conflict in Ukraine, emerged as India’s number one supplier last month with its share going up to 22 per cent.
“There is stress on the energy markets. As the world’s 3rd largest consumer of oil and gas – a consumer where the level of income is not very high – it is our fundamental obligation to ensure that the Indian consumer has the best possible access, on the most advantageous terms, to international markets. In that respect, we have quite honestly seen that the India-Russia relationship has worked to our advantage. If it works to my advantage, I would like to keep that going,” said Jaishankar after his meeting with Lavrov in Moscow, as he underlined the significance of India’s “time-tested” relationship with Russia.
Jaishankar’s remarks also came ahead of US treasury secretary Janet Yellen‘s visit to India later this week during which she’s likely to seek India’s support for a price cap on Russian oil.
