'If Everything is Matter of Principle...': Jaishankar's Jab on Russian Oil Question

Rome: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar reiterated that India's decision to purchase oil from Russia is based on its national interest and other countries should respect that instead of questioning it. Notably, the topic of India's purchase of Russian oil has been raised several times and faced criticism by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

EAM Jaishankar hit out at the West for its "selective approach" towards Russia. Referring to Europe, Jaishankar said "this part of the world" has to understand that every part of the world has its own interests.

Slamming Europe, the EAM questioned why Europe has itself not cut its businesses with Russia, if it's a matter of principles.

Europe Disengagement With Russia Has Been Very Selective: Jaishankar Hits Back

A Italy-based newspaper reported that the foreign minister underlined Europe's "unreasonable expectations" from other parts of the world, while its own disengagement with Russia has been very "selective."

"This part of the world has to understand that every part of the world has its interests. The priorities of Europe will naturally differ from the ones of countries in Asia or Africa or Latin America. If everything is a matter of such a deep principle, then Europe itself should have cut off all its business with Russia, but it doesn't do that. It's been very selective and paced its disengagement very, very carefully. So to say this region (Europe) will worry about its people, and others should not worry about what the impact will be on them, is not reasonable," the Italian newspaper quoted Jaishankar as saying.

He further asked that why should India "pay higher prices just to make you (Europe) happy."

"And please understand one thing. Europe was importing energy from Russia. Europe then started diverting to other producers and that put pressure on the market. So what are we supposed to do? Pay higher prices just to make you happy? Life is about respecting other people's interests, not about having everything your way," the EAM further said.

Jaishankar on Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Upon being asked about India's role on resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Jaishankar further said that New Delhi advocates for the end of war by engaging in dialogue and diplomacy.

Jaishankar emphasised India's efforts in resolving the conflict and pointed out that a solution can't be found on the battlefield. He also highlighted that unless Moscow and Kyiv don't sit on the negotiation table, no one can get to know what the two sides want.

"So you have to talk to Moscow, and you have to talk to Kyiv. And that's what we are trying to do. Look, it's now nearly three years. You're not going to get a solution from the battlefield, right? We have to negotiate. At some stage, people will come to the table. The sooner they do it, the better, because the rest of the world is affected. It's not just that Europe is taking the brunt of this conflict. Everybody else's life is also impacted by what is happening. So do understand there is a big feeling across very large parts of the world. More effort needs to be done to actually get the participants back to the negotiation," he said.

"We will know what Russia wants or Ukraine wants only when they get down to the negotiation. We have today two major conflicts taking place simultaneously. This is putting the entire international system under great stress. And we cannot be just spectators and say, well, that's the way it is. It may or may not work. We will not know until we try. But we do believe that on both these conflicts, in Ukraine and in the Middle East, countries need to take initiatives, make efforts, however difficult it looks, to try and find some common ground, something better than what we have today," the Foreign Minister added.

Refusing to comment on International Criminal Court's arrest warrants to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , Jaishankar sad that India is not a signatory to the ICC.

In a sharp dig, he said, When you're not members of a body, that already tells you what your views are about that body."

(With ANI inputs)