Indian FM: Our relations with Russia are “useful” for the world

Published:

Nov 15, 2024 01:24 GMT

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar assured that trade ties with Russia avoid “a global energy crisis.”

India’s Foreign Minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, assured this Wednesday that New Delhi’s friendly relations with Moscow are “useful” for maintaining global stability, because they avoid “a global energy crisis.”

During a interview With Sky News Australia, Jaishankar was questioned about the commercial and political ties that his country maintains with Russia and how these have caused “distress” in Australia. Given this, the diplomat responded that currently the countries of the world “they do not have exclusive relationships”.

“What India has done and is doing with Russia is, in my opinion, useful for the international community as a whole”Jaishankar said, defending New Delhi’s decision to increase oil imports from Moscow after Western countries imposed unprecedented sanctions against Russia over the conflict with Ukraine.

According to the diplomat, without these responses “the energy markets would have taken a completely different path”, causing a global energy crisis and, subsequently, causing inflation throughout the planet.

Furthermore, the senior official highlighted that good relations with Moscow allow India “to be, in a certain way, an intermediate country, which has the ability to talk to both Russia and Ukraine and to try to find some intersection in those conversations.

“I think the world, including Australia, needs a country to help bring this conflict back to the negotiating table,” Jaishankar added, arguing that armed conflicts mostly end through negotiations and not on the battlefield.