Even as the US warned India that there would be “consequences” for the countries trying to circumvent its sanctions against Russia, India's external affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar hit out at the countries which were carrying out campaigns against India.
Most of the countries in Europe continued to buy oil from Russia, and the minister said that it was natural for countries to look for ‘good deals’ in the oil market when the prices go up. He was speaking at the first India-UK Strategic Futures Forum in the presence of the UK foreign secretary Elizabeth Truss.
“India is a sovereign country, and I am not going to tell what to do,” the UK foreign secretary said in response to a media question related to India’s decision to buy oil from Russia despite the sanctions imposed by the West and its allies. She also said that it was important to respect other country’s decisions about the issues they faced.
According to the minister, the bulk of India’s energy supplies are from the Middle East and around 8 per cent from the US. And, compared to the European buyers of oil and gas from Russia, India buys just around one per cent crude from that country. He also stated that three months later too the list of buyers of the Russian oil and gas would remain the same and India won’t be in the top ten on that list.
Interestingly, last week the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was quoted in media reports as saying that boycotting Russian energy could put Europe into recession. According to reports, some of the Russian banks that are used by the European Union countries to pay for the oil and gas imports from that country have not been excluded from the SWIFT international payment system.
India’s position remains the same
Despite pressure from several countries including the US, UK, and from the European Union, India has refrained from censuring Russia for the war against Ukraine. It abstained on all Ukraine related voting in the United Nations Security Council or the UNGA and other bodies.
Such a stance taken by India is based on its strategic partnership with Russia and its long-standing defence cooperation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his telephone calls with the leaders of both Russia and Ukraine has urged them to resolve the situation through dialogue. India has urged the countries to respect the UN Charter, sovereignty and integrity of all states.
