Express News Service
NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday indicated India will continue importing crude oil from Russia despite Western unease, after holding wide-ranging talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.
“As the world’s third-largest consumer of oil and gas, a consumer where the levels of income are not very high, it is our fundamental obligation to ensure that the Indian consumer has the best possible access on the most advantageous terms to international markets,” Jaishankar said at a joint media conference with Lavrov.
Foreign minister S Jaishankar with hisRussian counterpart Sergey Lavrovafter a press meet in Moscow on Tuesday | APThe talks came days before US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen arrives in Delhi, with indications that capping Russian oil prices could be on the talks agenda. Russia last month became India’s biggest oil supplier jacking up its share from less than 2% of India’s oil basket before the Ukraine war to nearly 22% now.
This was the fifth meeting for the two foreign ministers this year though it was Jaishankar’s first visit to Moscow since the Ukraine war. He was accompanied by senior officials from the ministries of agriculture, petroleum and natural gas, ports, shipping and waterways, finance, chemicals and fertilisers as well as commerce and industry, indicating the breadth of the bilateral engagement.
Describing the bilateral ties as time-tested, Jaishankar said, “India and Russia engage each other in an increasingly multi-polar and re-balanced world. We do so as two polities who have had an exceptionally steady and time-tested relationship.’’ After the meeting, both sides resolved to expand their trade ties, with India stressing the need to improve the bilateral trade balance by increasing exports to Russia.
“We reviewed progress of our space and nuclear programs. It is also essential that our time-tested defence relationship continues to perform smoothly,’’ he added.
On Ukraine, Jaishankar reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘no era for war’ pitch and articulated India’s continued stand of dialogue and peaceful resolution of the conflict. “The global economy is simply too inter-dependent for a significant conflict anywhere, not to have major consequences elsewhere. India, therefore, strongly advocates a return to dialogue and diplomacy. We are clearly on the side of peace, respect for international law and support for the UN Charter.”
NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday indicated India will continue importing crude oil from Russia despite Western unease, after holding wide-ranging talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.
“As the world’s third-largest consumer of oil and gas, a consumer where the levels of income are not very high, it is our fundamental obligation to ensure that the Indian consumer has the best possible access on the most advantageous terms to international markets,” Jaishankar said at a joint media conference with Lavrov.
Foreign minister S Jaishankar with his
Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov
after a press meet in Moscow on Tuesday | APThe talks came days before US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen arrives in Delhi, with indications that capping Russian oil prices could be on the talks agenda. Russia last month became India’s biggest oil supplier jacking up its share from less than 2% of India’s oil basket before the Ukraine war to nearly 22% now.
This was the fifth meeting for the two foreign ministers this year though it was Jaishankar’s first visit to Moscow since the Ukraine war. He was accompanied by senior officials from the ministries of agriculture, petroleum and natural gas, ports, shipping and waterways, finance, chemicals and fertilisers as well as commerce and industry, indicating the breadth of the bilateral engagement.
Describing the bilateral ties as time-tested, Jaishankar said, “India and Russia engage each other in an increasingly multi-polar and re-balanced world. We do so as two polities who have had an exceptionally steady and time-tested relationship.’’ After the meeting, both sides resolved to expand their trade ties, with India stressing the need to improve the bilateral trade balance by increasing exports to Russia.
“We reviewed progress of our space and nuclear programs. It is also essential that our time-tested defence relationship continues to perform smoothly,’’ he added.
On Ukraine, Jaishankar reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘no era for war’ pitch and articulated India’s continued stand of dialogue and peaceful resolution of the conflict. “The global economy is simply too inter-dependent for a significant conflict anywhere, not to have major consequences elsewhere. India, therefore, strongly advocates a return to dialogue and diplomacy. We are clearly on the side of peace, respect for international law and support for the UN Charter.”
