Hitting out at the double standards of the Western nations, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar defended India's decision to buy Russian oil from 2022, after Moscow invaded Ukraine, saying the move was taken on the United States' request to keep global oil prices low. Addressing an event during his visit to Finland, Jaishankar also criticised the on-and-off US sanctions on Russian oil.India became a major buyer of Russian oil after the US imposed sanctions on Russia in 2022 for invading Ukraine and capped the price of its oil."At that time, the US specifically asked India to buy Russian oil to stabilise the oil market," Jaishankar said at an event in Finland's Kultaranta. "I buy oil based on cost and availability," he said, after a journalist accused India of being "too sympathetic to Russia" and "too willing to buy oil from Russia". Jaishanker pointed out that "At that point of time, much of the oil available in the market was from Russia because Europeans were essentially buying up the Middle East oil, which was our traditional supplier." Show more Show less
'Let’s not pretend...': Jaishankar takes aim at US double standards over energy policy, tariffs
Hitting out at the double standards of the Western nations, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar defended India's decision to buy Russian oil from 2022, after Moscow invaded Ukraine, saying the move was taken on the United States' request to keep global oil prices low. Addressing an event during his visit to Finland, Jaishankar also criticised the on-and-off US sanctions on Russian oil.India became a major buyer of Russian oil after the US imposed sanctions on Russia in 2022 for invading Ukraine and capped the price of its oil."At that time, the US specifically asked India to buy Russian oil to stabilise the oil market," Jaishankar said at an event in Finland's Kultaranta. "I buy oil based on cost and availability," he said, after a journalist accused India of being "too sympathetic to Russia" and "too willing to buy oil from Russia". Jaishanker pointed out that "At that point of time, much of the oil available in the market was from Russia because Europeans were essentially buying up the Middle East oil, which was our traditional supplier."
