S. Jaishankar, India’s minister of external affairs, defended the country’s decision to purchase discounted Russian oil on Wednesday by claiming that it is intended to alleviate shortages and protect consumers from high energy costs, despite criticism from his Ukrainian counterpart.
During a meeting with members of the Indian diaspora on Monday in Bangkok, Jaishankar reaffirmed India’s position on its choice to accept Russia’s offer of discounted energy and emphasised that New Delhi is focused on obtaining the best possible deal for its citizens at a time when India’s traditional energy suppliers are diverting supplies to Europe.
“At the moment, gas and oil prices are both excessively high. In response to a question from the viewing public, he said: “A lot of traditional suppliers to Asia are also diverting them (supplies) to Europe because Europe…can buy less oil and gas from Russia.”
Therefore, Europe is actually purchasing a lot more from the Middle East and other regions that would have supplied India. In the present environment, every nation will naturally attempt to secure the best possible terms for its citizens and will make efforts to mitigate the effects of these high energy prices, and that is precisely what we are doing, he said.
In addition to defending the Indian government’s decision to buy discounted Russian crude oil and other commodities, Jaisankhar previously pointed out that European countries that had opposed New Delhi’s move were still buying Russian crude oil.
