India’s monthly purchase of Russian energy is less than Europe’s in an afternoon, foreign minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday at the crucial 2+2 dialogue in the United States amid the ongoing debate over the purchase of oil from Russia, Trend reports citing The Hindustan Times.
“If you're looking at (India's) energy purchases from Russia, I'd suggest your attention should be on Europe. We buy some energy necessary for our energy security. But I suspect, looking at figures, our purchases for the month would be less than what Europe does in an afternoon.”
“We’re against the conflict, we’re up for a dialogue and diplomacy, we’re for urgent cessation of violence and we are prepared to contribute in whatever way we can. We have made a number of statements that outline our positions in our parliament and in other forums as US secretary of state Antony Blinken pointed out,” the 67-year-old minister said as he shared the stage with US leaders.
Last week, White House press secretary Jen Psaki- at a media briefing - had also clarified that India’s energy imports from Russia were about 1-2 per cent of the total imports. Washington has maintained that it's "a country's individual decision to ban imports" to put pressure on Moscow.
At 2+2 talks, Blinken yet again stressed that India “has to make its own decisions about how it approaches this challenge (Ukraine)”. "We share profoundly values of freedom, openness, independence and sovereignty. India's relationship with Russia developed over decades at a time when US wasn't able to be a partner to India. Today, we're able and willing to be a partner of choice with India.