Sergey Lavrov, the foreign minister of russia, remembered how External Affairs minister S jaishankar told european leaders to "mind their own business" when they questioned why New delhi remained in Moscow's orbit during the conflict in Ukraine. He said this in response to a question on why india was still buying oil from russia in the midst of the conflict in ukraine during the World youth Forum in Sochi, Russia.
 
Referring to jaishankar as his "friend," Lavrov emphasised that India's purchase of Russian crude oil was a "national dignity" and that the former had questioned how much oil Europe had started buying.
 

"My friend, Foreign minister Subramanyam jaishankar, was once at the UN, giving a speech. He was asked why they started buying so much oil from Russia. He advised them to mind their own business and reminded them at the same time how much oil the West had started buying and continued to buy oil from the Russian Federation. This is national dignity," Lavrov was quoted as saying by Sputnik news agency.

Lavrov's remarks coincided with european criticism of india, which is accused of undermining the efficacy of Western sanctions placed on moscow for its invasion of ukraine in february 2022 by obtaining Russian crude oil.
 
India made a substantial shift in its import patterns after the geopolitical tensions resulting from Moscow's invasion of ukraine, with a large rise in the amount of oil purchased from Russia. india profited from lower Russian oil prices despite international sanctions, increasing its imports from zero in january 2022 to 1.27 million barrels per day by january 2023.
 
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G GOWTHAM

05/03/2024 10:08 AM