Jaishankar Clarifies India’s Energy Trade Position on Russian Oil

By A Staff Reporter

Moscow: External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar addressed questions on India’s energy trade during a press briefing in Moscow, underscoring that India is not the largest buyer of Russian oil or gas.

Responding to a query on India’s imports, Dr. Jaishankar said, “We are not the biggest purchasers of Russian oil, that is China. We are not the biggest purchasers of Russian LNG, that is the European Union. We are not the country which has the biggest trade surge with Russia after 2022; I think there are some countries to the South.”

He emphasized that India’s oil trade decisions are guided by energy security needs and global stability. “We are a country where the Americans have said for the last few years that we should do everything to stabilise the world energy market, including buying oil from Russia,” he noted.

Dr. Jaishankar further pointed out that India also imports oil from the United States, with volumes steadily increasing in recent years. Stressing the need for perspective, he said, “So quite honestly, we are very perplexed at the logic of the argument that you (media) had referred to.”