External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar mentioned on Tuesday that India, which has a $2,000 per capita economic system, is anxious concerning the rise in oil costs because of the Russia-Ukraine battle and it’s “breaking our back”.
Addressing a joint press convention with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken after bilateral talksJaishankar mentioned that there’s a deep concern among the many growing nations about tips on how to meet their power wants.
Speaking concerning the Ukraine struggle, he mentioned: “We have taken privately, publicly, confidentially and consistently the position that this conflict is not in anyone’s interest.” He mentioned one of the best ways ahead is to return to dialogue and diplomacy.
“Look, we worry about the price of oil but we are a $2,000 per capita economy. When the price of oil is breaking our backs and that’s our big concern.”
Jaishankar was replying to a query on the boundaries of Russian oil.
“Whenever we have been able to contribute something in the past, we are open to it,” he mentioned.
“There are some issues now,” he mentioned. “You have to know that power markets are already beneath a number of stress up to now few months. Countries within the world south have discovered it tough to compete for restricted power, not solely by way of rising costs however typically by way of availability as effectively. “
“Our concern right now is that the energy markets are already under stress, they should soften. We will clearly evaluate any situation to see how it affects us and other countries in the Global South. There is a very deep concern in developing countries about how or not to meet their energy security needs,” Jaishankar mentioned.
India’s crude oil imports from Russia have elevated greater than 50 occasions since April and now account for 10 per cent of all crude bought from overseas.
Russian oil made up solely 0.2 % of all oil imported by India earlier than the Ukraine struggle.
After the assault on Ukraine, Western nations are regularly lowering their power purchases from Russia.
With sanctions imposed by Western nations having little impact on Russia, G-7 nations and the European Union have imposed oil value limits on Russian crude and refined merchandise to restrict the Kremlin’s income.
Earlier this month, an announcement issued by G-7 finance ministers mentioned the worth cap was particularly designed to cut back Russian revenues and scale back Ukraine’s means to fund the struggle.
The US has requested India to hitch a coalition to restrict Russian oil costs, however New Delhi has mentioned it’ll “carefully examine” the proposal earlier than taking any resolution.
To one other query about India shopping for navy tools from Russia, Jaishankar mentioned: “It is not an issue from where we get our military equipment and platforms, which is a new issue or an issue which is specifically has changed due to geopolitical circumstances.”
“We see potential around the world. We look at the quality of technology, the quality of capabilities and the conditions of the specialized equipment offered. We exercise a choice that we believe is in our national interest,” he mentioned.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
