Oil Purchases Serve Both National and Global Interests by Stabilising Prices, says EAM Jaishankar

As Washington prepares to impose a 25 per cent secondary tariff on Indian goods in the coming days, External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr. S. Jaishankar on Saturday strongly defended New Delhi’s continued energy partnership with Moscow.

He argued that India’s crude oil imports from Russia are not only vital for its own economic needs but also play a stabilising role in the global market.

Addressing a function organized by The Economic Times in New Delhi, Jaishankar asserted that India will have complete sovereignty in making its own choices on matters of energy security.

"It's ironic to have folks employed by a pro-business American government criticizing others for conducting business. If you don't like to buy oil or refined products from India, don't do it," he stated, brushing aside criticism of India's oil imports.

"Nobody compels you to purchase it. Europe purchases, America purchases, so you do not like it, do not purchase it," reiterated the minister.

Looking at the volatility in international energy prices in 2022, Jaishankar remembered that India's imports from Russia had been regarded as necessary for maintaining market equilibrium. "At that time it was said that if India will purchase Russian oil, let them do it, because that will stabilise the prices," he said. "We are purchasing oil to stabilise the oil prices. Yes, it is in our national interest but it is also in a global interest."

Earlier, on a press conference in Moscow, Jaishankar also indicated that India is much from the biggest consumer of Russian oil. "That is China. We are not the largest buyers of LNG; that is the European Union. We are not the nation which has the largest trade boom with Russia post-2022; I believe there are some nations to the South," he informed reporters.

He went on to add that U.S. officials themselves have in the past urged India to do things to ensure energy market stability. "We are a nation where the Americans have told us for the past few years that we need to do everything to stabilize the world energy market, and that includes importing oil from Russia," Jaishankar said.

"By the way, we also import oil from the US, and that is up," he added.

Jaishankar also pointed out that the Indo-Russian relationship is more than crude oil. The two nations are leading cooperation in nuclear energy, access to trade, fertilisers, and labour mobility—sectors he reported as being "really very satisfied with."