European actions are putting pressure on global oil market, says India’s EAM S. Jaishankar

In an interview with an Austrian media house, the Indian Minister of External Affairs, S. Jaishankar, defended his country’s decision to buy crude oil from Russia. In response to the questions, the Indian minister highlighted that Europe has imported six times more fossil fuel energy from Russia than India since February 2022.

He reiterated that Europe reduced its imports in a manner which is comfortable for Europe. “Europe has managed to reduce its imports while doing it in a manner which is comfortable for Europe. Now, if at 60,000 Euros or whatever is your per capita income, you are so caring about your population. I have a population at 2000 dollars, I also need energy, I am not in a position to pay high prices, and the price of oil is doubled, so what Europe is doing its also moving into the Middle East and diverting production out of Middle East into Europe and raising prices.

He added that the European actions are putting pressure on the global oil markets and India’s imports.

“If European political leadership understandably would like to soften the impact on their populations, I think it is a privilege they should extend to other political leaderships as well,” he emphasized.

On being questioned if India is reluctant to criticize Moscow as it is India’s most important supplier of weapons and military equipment, Minister S. Jaishankar replied boldly. He added that India has a long-term relationship with Moscow, and it’s important to look at the history of the relationship.

Explaining further, he added, “It was a relationship built in a period when western democracies used to arm the military of a dictatorship and deny India weapons,”.

Furthermore, he said India is an independent country which doesn’t define itself in alliance terms, “that’s very much a western terminology; it’s not a term that we should,”.

After the war between Russia and Ukraine broke out on February 25, 2022, there have been far-reaching effects on the world’s energy infrastructure. As a result, it has affected homes, industries, and economies in several countries by upsetting supply and demand patterns, fracturing long-standing trading links, and driving up energy prices for many individuals and businesses worldwide.