New Delhi: The issue of India buying oil from Russia at cheap prices has been discussed globally. The Government of India has also responded to this from time to time. But now a statement has come out from Russia on this matter. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that my friend Jaishankar has answered this very well. During the World Youth Forum in Sochi, Russia, Lavrov was asked why India was buying oil from Russia amid the Ukraine war. On this, Lavrov described Jaishankar as his friend and said that buying crude oil from Russia is a matter of national dignity for India.
Lavrov said that my friend, Foreign Minister Jaishankar had said about this in his address to the United Nations. He was asked why they (India) have started buying so much oil from Russia. On this, Jaishankar advised them to do their work and also reminded them how much oil the western countries have started buying. Let us tell you that this statement of Lavrov has come after the statements of European countries in which India’s move to buy oil from Russia was criticized. European countries had said that India buying oil from Russia would not be appropriate for the Western sanctions imposed on Moscow.
Since Russia’s attack on Ukraine in February 2022, Western countries have isolated Russia and imposed various sanctions on it. But despite these sanctions, India continued to buy oil from Russia at cheap prices. Not only this, despite the ban by western countries, India increased oil purchases from Russia. By January 2023, oil imports from Russia to India have increased to 12.7 lakh barrels. In 2023, oil import from Russia to India will double to 17.9 lakh barrels per day.
Supporting India’s decision to buy oil from Russia, Jaishankar had recently said that buying crude oil from Russia is the right decision. When the war started in Ukraine, the countries of the Middle East gave priority to the countries of Europe. Because European countries were paying higher prices for oil. What option did we have then? Either we would not have got oil because all the oil was being bought by European countries or we would have bought oil at higher prices because Europe was already buying oil at very high prices. He had said that in such a situation, India worked to stabilize oil prices in the market by purchasing crude oil from Russia. India has very stable and friendly relations with Russia and Russia has never harmed our interests. On the other hand, we have more complex relations with China politically and militarily.
