Team Blitz India
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has once again reiterated India’s stance on purchasing oil from Russia, despite facing opposition from Western nations.
Speaking at a panel during the Munich Security Conference, Jaishankar, alongside US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, emphasised India’s unwavering commitment to maintaining relationships with both the United States and Russia amid ongoing geopolitical complexities.
Addressing inquiries about India’s diplomatic balancing act, Jaishankar remarked, “Is that a problem? Why should that be a problem? If I am smart enough to have multiple options, you should be admiring me. Is that a problem for others? I don’t think so, suddenly in this case. We try to explain what are the different pulls and pressures that countries have. It’s very hard to have that unidimensional relationship.” Blinken couldn’t help but smile at Jaishankar’s response.
Jaishankar elaborated on the complexities of international relations, stating, “Different countries and different relationships have different histories. If I want to look at the US and Germany, it is rooted. There is an alliance, a certain history on which that relationship is grounded. In our case, it’s very different, so I don’t want you to even inadvertently get the impression that we are purely unsentimentally transactional.”
The 60th Munich Security Conference was held from February 16 to 18. Jaishankar also sought to position India as ‘non-West’, emphasising the country’s strong relations with Western nations, which continue to strengthen. “In a way, those additional 13 members who came into this bigger grouping, 5 of them are BRICS members, the fact that there was another group which was meeting regularly and discussing at the meeting, I think certainly was input into the expansion of G7 into the G20. So, I think we did our service to the world,” Jaishankar added, reflecting on India’s role in global forums.
