Russia has never hurt India's interests, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told German daily Handelsblatt, defending ties with Moscow as the West pushes to end the war in Ukraine.
"Everyone conducts a relationship based on past experiences. If I look at the history of post-independence India, Russia has never hurt our interests. We have always had a stable and very friendly relationship... and our relationship with Moscow today is based on this experience," Jaishankar said.
India-Russia ties have been under focus since Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in February 2022, triggering weapons aid for Kyiv from the West, and financial sanctions by the United States and Europe, including those on the purchase of Russian crude oil.
The diplomat told the German daily that he saw no alternative to buying Russian crude oil and gas. He underlined that European countries purchased, at higher prices, oil and gas from the Middle East that had gone to Asia before Moscow invaded Ukraine.
"The Indian purchases even stabilised world market prices. If no one had bought the crude oil from Russia and everyone had bought the crude oil from other countries, the prices on the energy market would have shot up even further,” he said.
On a question about the West not supporting India during the military stand-off with China in Ladakh in June 2020, Jaishankar said he did not expect the West to understand the nuances of India's relationship with China.
"My point is... just as I do not expect Europe to have a view of China identical to mine, Europe should understand I cannot have a view of Russia identical to the European one. Let us accept there are natural differences in relationships..." the Union Minister said.
During a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference, Jaishankar was asked about India's balancing act between its growing ties with the US and continuing trade with Russia. In his typical no-nonsense style, he replied, “Is that a problem, why should that be a problem? If I am smart enough to have multiple options, you should be admiring me.”