Jaishankar sees ‘campaign’ against India for buying Russian oil

External Affairs Minister says the European countries remain the biggest buyers of oil and gas from Russia

Criticising what he called a “campaign” against India for buying Russian oil at discounts in the past few weeks, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Thursday said the European countries remained the biggest buyers of oil and gas from Russia despite announcements that they would cut down.

Speaking at an event organised by the Ministry of External Affairs’ think tank, Indian Council for World Affairs, where he held a discussion with visiting U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Mr. Jaishankar said it was “natural for countries to go out in the market and look for good deals” when oil prices go up, as they had in the past month since Russia’s war in Ukraine and the U.S.,U.K. and EU sanctions were placed on Russia.

Ms. Truss responded that it would take European countries some time to end their dependence on “cheap” Russian energy, but that Europe had already made drastic cuts to its energy import plans from Moscow.