India will continue to buy Russian oil as it is beneficial to the country, Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said during his first visit to Russia since its invasion of Ukraine, in a move against Western efforts to cripple the Russian economy with sanctions. Jaishankar met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday in Moscow accompanied by senior officials responsible for agriculture, oil and gas, ports and shipping, finance, chemicals and fertilizers and trade – which as he said shows the importance of ties with Russia. “Russia has been a stable and time-tested partner. Any objective assessment of our relationship over many decades would confirm that it has indeed served both our countries very well,” Jaishankar said at a joint press conference. “As the third largest consumer of oil and gas in the world, a consumer where income levels are not very high, it is our fundamental obligation to ensure that the Indian consumer has the best possible access to international markets on the most favorable terms. ” he said. “We have seen that the India-Russia relationship has worked to our advantage. If it works in my favour, I would like to continue this,” added the Indian foreign minister. India, which has not explicitly condemned what Russia calls its “special military operation in Ukraine”, has emerged as Russia’s biggest oil customer after China following a boycott by Western buyers. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar shake hands during a press conference in Moscow. [Maxim Shipenkov/Pool via Reuters] Jaishankar’s announcement came ahead of US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s visit to New Delhi later this week, when she is expected to discuss a Group of Seven (G7) plan to curb the price of Russian oil with Indian officials. US officials and G7 nations have held intense negotiations in recent weeks over the unprecedented plan to impose a price cap on seaborne oil shipments, which is scheduled to take effect on December 5 to ensure that European Union sanctions and of the US will not strangle the global oil market. Both New Delhi and Beijing have so far refused to join Western sanctions against Russia. Lavrov praised the position of Russia’s “Indian friends” on Ukraine and accused Western countries of trying to establish a “dominant role in world affairs” and prevent “the democratization of international relations.” Russia and India are also considering joint production of modern defense equipment, the foreign minister said, according to the TASS news agency. Last year, the two countries signed a $677 million deal to produce AK-203 assault rifles in India as part of New Delhi’s push for self-reliance in defense manufacturing. India is one of the largest buyers of defense equipment in the world. Moscow has been New Delhi’s biggest supplier of military equipment for decades. India imported over $20 billion worth of Russian defense equipment between 2011 and 2021. According to Lavrov, Russia and India also want to cooperate more closely in the fields of nuclear energy and space travel.
