External affairs minister S. Jaishankar on Tuesday asserted that the bilateral relationship with Russia has not only worked to India’s advantage, especially on oil supplies, but also helped stabilise the world economy at a time of great global volatility and uncertainty.
He did not elaborate on how the bilateral relationship, which the West had tried hard to unravel, had helped stabilise the world economy while fielding a question on whether his presence in Moscow at the head of a large delegation can be taken as a signal of India’s intent to enhance cooperation with Russia despite western pressure in the wake of the Ukraine situation which, Jaishankar said, dominated Tuesday’s discussions.
Responding to the question at the joint media conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, Jaishankar drew attention to the “large and senior” delegation from India.
The Indian external affairs minister said: “I am accompanied by a large and senior delegation because we have a very substantial and time-tested relationship with Russia…. We discussed areas where there is a natural convergence of interests between India and Russia. When we do so, we not only serve our national interests; we actually today as major G20 economies, we are actually helping to stabilize the world economy as well. At this time of great global volatility and uncertainty, I think this is a very good thing that we are doing.”
Specifically, on the issue of oil purchases, he sidestepped a question on what India thought of the move to place a price cap on Russian oil. But Jaishankar again stoutly defended India’s decision to take advantage of the Russian offer of discounted oil.
“As regards the oil supply issue, there is a stress on the energy markets. This is a stress which has been created by a combination of factors but as the world’s third-largest consumer of oil and gas -- a consumer where the levels of income are not very high -- it is our fundamental obligation to ensure that the Indian consumer has the best possible access on the most advantageous terms to the international markets. And in that respect, quite honestly, we have seen that the India-Russia relationship has worked to our advantage. So if it works to my advantage I would like to keep that going.’’
As to what New Delhi thinks about the West pressuring India on its relations with Russia and what stance it will take in the future, Jaishankar replied that the very fact that he was in Moscow speaks volumes.
“For us, Russia has been a steady and time-tested partner…. Any objective evaluation of our relations over many decades will confirm that it has served both our countries very, very well. If it has served my country very, very well for many decades, you can see the obvious interest and commitment I would have in keeping that relationship strong and steady.”
He indicated that the prevailing situation in the global economy had given a fillip to bilateral trade.
In his statement before the media interaction was opened for questions, Jaishankar said: “In the last few years, we, India and Russia, have grappled with how to expand our bilateral trade and introduce more factors of long-term stability and growth. Some of these discussions are now yielding results, accelerated by the stresses that the global economy is currently experiencing, including as a result of the Ukraine conflict.”
While India stressed the need for addressing the trade imbalance and the impediments in the way of greater Indian exports to Russia, Lavrov underscored the “positive dynamics” in bilateral trade.
“By September, the trade volumes had increased year to year by over 130 per cent; almost reaching the point of $17 billion. We believe the goal set forth by our leadership to increase the trade volume to $30 billion will soon be achieved.”
