'Europe sells weapons which are used to attack India': Jaishankar hits back over Russia-Ukraine stance

Defending India's decision to buy oil from Russia, External Affairs Minister Dr Jaishankar pointed out the double standards of the West. The remarks from the Indian diplomat came during his visit to Finland, where he was asked about India's stance on the Russia-Ukraine war. The journalist on Thursday accused India of being "too sympathetic to Russia" and "too willing to buy oil from Russia".

To this, Jaishankar replied: "I'll make two observations. I buy oil based on cost and availability. So at that point of time, much of the oil available in the market was Russian because Europeans were essentially buying oil from the Middle East, which was our traditional supplier. So circumstances pushed us in a certain direction."

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He went on to highlight Europe's moral ambiguity regarding what is happening around the world. "No European country has been attacked with Indian weapons. I wish I could say that for Europe weapons vis-à-vis India," he said.

When the Indian diplomat was asked to elaborate on his point, Jaishankar reiterated that "Europe sells weapons, which are used to attack India. Not just now but for many years. We Indians have never done anything to endanger Europe. I think that's a reasonable point."

'US asked for Russian oil to be purchased'

It is pertinent to note that this is not the first time Jaishankar has had to defend India's decision to purchase oil from Russia during his trip to Europe. According to Bloomberg, the minister of external affairs said that India began actively purchasing Russian oil after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine not only because of favourable prices but also at the request of the United States.

He pointed out that in 2022, the US asked India to purchase Russian oil in order to stabilise the global oil market and prevent a sharp rise in prices after Europe imposed sanctions against Russia. "At that time, the US directly asked India to buy Russian oil to stabilise the oil market. We buy oil based on cost and availability," Jaishankar said during a speech in Finland.

Jaishankar also criticised the US's contradictory policy regarding sanctions on Russian oil and urged against attaching excessive moral significance to the issue.