External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar, on a three-day visit to Moscow, delivered a pointed rebuttal to US President Donald Trump’s decision to penalise India over Russian oil purchases.
Asked about Trump’s remarks on punitive tariffs, Jaishankar was firm yet measured.
“See, I will not comment on the person but on the argument. We are not the biggest purchasers of Russian oil, that is China. We are not the biggest purchasers of LNG, that is the European Union. We are not the country which has the biggest trade surge with Russia after 2022; I think there are some countries to the South.”
Flipping Trump’s argument on its head, Jaishankar continued: “We are a country where the Americans have said for the last few years that we should do everything to stabilise the world energy market, including buying oil from Russia. Incidentally, we also buy oil from the US, and that amount has increased. So honestly, we are very perplexed at the logic of the argument that you (the media) had referred to…”
Addressing a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Jaishankar confirmed their shared ambition to expand bilateral ties.
“We reaffirmed our shared ambition to expand bilateral trade in a balanced and sustainable manner, including by increasing India’s exports to Russia. This requires swiftly addressing non-tariff barriers and regulatory impediments, enhancing India’s exports to Russia in sectors like agriculture, pharma, and textiles will certainly help correct the imbalance…, ” EAM Jaishankar said.
Jaishankar’s visit to Russia comes amidst increasing tensions with the US over trade tariffs and days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) leaders’ summit in Tianjin, China, where he is likely to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines.