India and Russia share a very stable and very friendly relationship and Moscow has never hurt India’s interests; External Affairs Minister Subramaniam Jaishankar told a German media agency this week defending long standing ties between the two nations as the West pushes to end the war in Ukraine.
The comments come amid muffled whispers that New Delhi might help resolve violence that according to the United States of America (USA) intelligence from December 2023 suggests has killed over 70,000 civilians and military.
“Everyone conducts relationship based on past experiences. If I look at the history of post-Independence India, the Russian Federation has never harmed our interests. We always had a stable and very friendly relationship and our relationship with Moscow today is based on this experience,” he said.
India-Russia ties have been under scrutiny since Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in February 2022, triggering weapons aid for Kyiv from the West and financial sanctions by the United States of America and Europe, including those on the purchase of Russian crude oil. A pragmatic Indian government, however has continued its purchases at sizeable discounts to feed an oil hungry economy.
The External Affairs Minister in Munich, Germany for a security meet, told Handelsblatt, that he sees no alternative at this point to buy crude Russian oil and he has repeatedly defended India on this topic. He also pointed out that after sanctions were imposed on Russia, Western countries unlike New Delhi could afford to buy from West Asian suppliers at consequentially inflated prices and that India continuing to purchase from Moscow and moderated international oil prices.
“If no one bought crude oil from Russia, and if everyone bought crude oil from other countries, then prices on the energy market would have shot up further”, he told the German publication. Subramaniam Jaishankar has previously pointed out that India’s Russian oil purchases are marginal compared to volumes purchases earlier by European nations.
Every country, he told NDTV in August 2023, the is trying to get the best possible deal for its citizens and to cushion the impact of high energy prices and explained that India is no different. A year earlier, months after the war broke out, he said “If you are looking at energy prices from Russia, I suggest that you focus on Europe. We do buy some which is necessary, but I suspect our total purchases for the month would be less than Europe does in afternoon.
The comment was made with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken by his side.
On a question about the West not supporting India, during the military standoff with China in Ladakh in June 2020. Jaishankar said he did not expect the west to understand the nuances of India-China relationship just as he might not appreciate subtexts in their ties with Beijing.
“My point is just as I do not expect Europe to have a view of China identical to mine, Europe should understand I cannot have a view with Russia identical to the European one. Let us accept there are natural differences in relationship, the Union Minister in Munich for a security conference, he said.
Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi had a brief interaction in Munich on February 17, 2024. This was as the Chinese minister was exiting stage and the Indian leader was walking on. Last month, Jaishankar, while speaking at an event in Mumbai described global politics as a competitive game and stressed that India should not be scared of China.
