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Do you have a better deal?: India’s Jaishankar responds on getting ‘cheap oil’ from Russia
Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar gave a stern reply on Saturday (Dec. 9) to the criticism of New Delhi buying oil from Russia amid the country’s ongoing war with Ukraine.
Foreign Minister Jaishankar was taking part in the 22nd edition of the Doha Forum panel on “Conflict Resolution in a New Era” in Doha.
“Pleased to participate @DohaForumpanel today on the topic “Conflict Resolution in a New Era” in Doha today along with PM & FM@MBA_Al Thani_of Qatar and FM @EspenBarthEide of Norway. As the conflicts around us increase, the need of the hour is more diplomacy, not less,” Jaishankar said in a post on X.
‘Do you have a better deal?’
On being asked about India getting “cheap oil” from Russia, Jaishankar said, “I get oil, yes. It is not necessarily cheap. Do you have a better deal?”
Last month, Indian Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that Russia had become the largest supplier of crude oil to India, accounting for over 35 per cent of the country’s imports.
In September, Puri said that New Delhi was prepared to keep buying oil from Russian companies that were allowed to make such sales since prices were cheap.
Western sanctions on Russia over its war with Ukraine have capped the price Russia can charge for its crude oil, and India is prepared to buy oil and gas at the lowest possible prices from anyone, Puri told the news agency Reuters.
Jaishankar on Russia-Ukraine war
Meanwhile, at the Doha Forum panel, Foreign Minister Jaishankar reiterated India’s stance that the Russia-Ukraine war could only be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy and not on the battlefield.
“We’ve always held to the view that this war is not going to be solved on the battlefield. At the end of the day, people are going to return to some kind of negotiating table, the sooner the better. Our effort has been to facilitate that to the extent possible. That has not been the most popular thing, at least in some parts of the world,” Jaishankar said
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