External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr S Jaishankar on Friday questioned the West over its double standards and defended India’s decision to procure Russian oil following the beginning of the Ukraine war in 2022. The diplomat-turned-politician underlined that India would prioritise its energy needs, which are guided by the country’s national interest.
Participating in a discussion on ‘Emerging Powers and the New Geopolitical Competition’ at the Kultaranta Talks in Finland, Jaishankar countered Europe’s criticism of India buying Russian oil and said pointed India’s concerns over West supplying arms to India’s neighbours, referring to Pakistan.
“I’ll make two observations. I buy oil based on cost and availability. So at that point of time, much of the oil available in the market was Russian because Europeans were essentially buying oil from the Middle East, which was our traditional supplier. So circumstances pushed us in a certain direction,” Jaishankar stated.
“No European country has been attacked with Indian weapons. I wish I could say that for Europe weapons vis-a-vis India,” he remarked. “Europe sells weapons, which are used to attack India. Not just now but for many years. We Indians have never done anything to endanger Europe. I think that’s a reasonable point.”
In his remarks, the foreign minister also pointed out that the ongoing conflicts, whether it is the Ukraine war or the Iran conflict, have impacts far beyond the regions and are triggering many changes. He emphasised that conflicts must be resolved through diplomacy and dialogue.
Further, Jaishankar said it was important to “de-risk and diversify” supply chains and build greater “resilience and redundancy” in an increasingly volatile world. Regarding India’s energy needs, he recounted that it was the United States (US) that encouraged India to procure Russian oil to maintain the “global economic equilibrium”.ย
“At that time, the US directly asked India to buy Russian oil to stabilise the oil market. We buy oil based on cost and availability,” he said. “Right now, if you see, after having first put tariffs on us for buying Russian oil, the US then again lifted its sanctions… Let’s not pretend there’s some great principle involved here. I don’t think making this about sanctimony is really warranted.”
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