Foreign Minister S Jaishankar with UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss during a meeting in New Delhi.
India on Thursday defended its decision to seek “good deals” for its energy requirement amid volatility in the market, while pointing out that Europe remains a source of Russian oil and gas even after the crisis in Ukraine erupted. major buyer.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar made the remarks in the presence of British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss at the India-UK Strategic Futures Forum, soon after having extensive talks with him on a range of issues, including the situation in Ukraine.
“When oil prices go up, I think it’s natural for countries to go to the market and see what good deals are in store for their people,” Jaishankar said.
“But I’m pretty sure that if we wait two or three months and really look at who are the big buyers of Russian oil and gas, I suspect the list won’t be much different than it was before and I suspect that We won’t be in the top 10 on that list,” he said.
Jaishankar’s remarks came on a day when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in India on a two-day visit. Truss’s visit to India came amid growing unease in western capitals on Thursday after India criticized Russia for not attacking Ukraine and decided to buy Russian crude at a discount.
Criticizing Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Truss said at the India-UK forum that his country would end its dependence on Russian oil by the end of the year, adding that India was a sovereign nation and would not tell what to do. Is. , In the forum, he was asked to comment on India’s decision to buy subsidized oil from Russia.
“It is interesting because we have seen for some time what almost looks like a campaign on this issue. I was reading a report today that in March, Europe took, I think, 15 years from Russia compared to a month earlier. Percentage has bought more oil and gas,” Jaishankar replied.
“If you look at the major buyers of oil and gas from Russia, I think you will find that most of them are in Europe,” he said.
India gets most of its energy supply from the Middle East
Jaishankar said India gets the bulk of its energy supply from the Middle-East and about 7.5 to 8 per cent from the US, while in the past purchases from Russia were less than one per cent.
“We are reducing and eliminating our dependence on Russian oil and gas. It takes time. This is true for other countries as well and the important thing for me is that the G7 has set a timetable to end that dependence and sent a strong signal to the market,” Truss said.
“There have been some very remarkable changes. Germany has changed its entire energy and defense policy as a result of the invasion of Ukraine. We need to keep doing that,” she said.
Truss said sanctions should be applied against Russia. “We must continue to put pressure on (Vladimir) Putin and continue to supply arms to Ukraine.” The British foreign secretary said that strengthening his country’s ties with India has become more important than ever because “we live in a more insecure world, precisely because we have Putin’s horrific invasion of Ukraine and its There is a violation of sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
He wondered what message democratic countries would send to the world if the Russian president was successful.
“If he was successful in invading a sovereign nation, what message would it send to other aggressors around the world? I think it is very important that the sanctions apply to Russia as well as to Ukraine in its fight for independence. Weapons are supplied,” Truss said.
“We have seen the G7 alliance including Japan being banned. We are also seeing countries like Australia, South Korea and Singapore participating in those sanctions because I think countries around the world, regardless of their specific status or structure, understand that if an aggressor attacks a sovereign nation. There is a fundamental problem if he runs away after being attacked,” he added.
Truss said the impact of the Ukraine crisis would not be limited to Europe and would have far-reaching consequences.
“The idea that somehow we should focus only on Europe because of this crisis is completely wrong. I am afraid to say that this crisis will have far-reaching consequences. We are seeing that global food security is in danger, global energy security is in danger.”
Referring to the major geopolitical developments, Jaishankar said what happened in Afghanistan last summer had a deep impact on India, but it was not so in the case of Europe.
Ahead of talks with Jaishankar, the British High Commission said the truce would work to deepen cyber security and defense cooperation between the two countries and announced a new joint cyber security programme. It said the aim of the program would be to protect the online infrastructure in both countries from attacks. It said that India and the UK will work together to enhance cyber security and conduct joint exercises to combat threats from cybercriminals and ransomware.
“The UK will join India’s Indo-Pacific Ocean Initiative and become a key partner on maritime security issues, coordinating work with key partners in Southeast Asia,” it said.
The High Commission said the Foreign Secretary would also confirm the British International Investment (BII) funding of £70 million to support the use of renewable energy in India. It said the current volatility in oil and gas prices as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and energy security concerns underscored the importance of India’s green transition and moving towards energy self-sufficiency. In the talks, both sides also discussed the implementation of Roadmap 2030.
India-UK ties were elevated to a comprehensive strategic partnership during a virtual summit held between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Boris Johnson in May last year. At the summit, both sides adopted a 10-year roadmap to expand ties in key areas of trade and economy, defense and security, climate change and people-to-people ties.
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