Despite pressure from several countries, India has refrained from censuring Russia for the war against Ukraine.
Even as the US on Thursday warned India that there would be “consequences” for the countries trying to circumvent its sanctions against Russia, 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.
She also outlined the UK’s approach to sanctions and said that her country is ending dependency on Russian oil by the year’s end. “What I have said is as a member of the UK Government that has signed up to the Budapest Memorandum.” Adding, “I feel a strong responsibility on behalf of the United Kingdom to take all the action we can, to support the people of Ukraine but that is not the same as going around telling other countries what to do”.
According to the minister, the bulk of India’s energy supplies are from the Middle East and around 8 percent from the US. And, compared to the European buyers of oil and gas from Russia, India buys just around one percent 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.
The UK foreign secretary stated “The G-7 has set a time table to end the dependency and to send a strong signal to the market.” She cited Germany’s example which has changed its entire energy and defence policy, and stated that pressure should be put on the Russian President and even when a ceasefire is announced the sanctions should remain.
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.
https://www.financialexpress.com/defence/india-hits-out-at-countries-questioning-its-decision-to-buy-russian-crude/2478896/
