India has dismissed criticism of buying Russian oil relentlessly, stressing the US’ request to New Delhi to purchasing it in 2022 for stabilising global markets.
“At that time, the US specifically asked India to buy Russian oil to stabilise the oil market. I buy oil based on cost and availability,” NDTV quoted External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar saying at an event in Kultaranta, Finland. He elaborated the circumstances that led India drawn to Russian oil.
After US enforced sanctions on Russia after the latter’s Ukraine invasion, European countries moved away from Russian supplies and started competing for India's traditional source Middle Eastern oil.
"At that point of time, much of the oil available in the market was from Russia because Europeans were buying up the Middle East oil, which was our traditional supplier," he said. "Circumstances pushed us in a certain direction."
Describing Russia as a steady energy supplier, Jaishankar disagreed with efforts that have been trying to project India’s choice for energy is an outcome of geopolitical allegiance.
