Indian foreign minister says his country will continue to buy Russian oil

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar confirmed today that his country will continue to buy Russian oil because it is beneficial to New Delhi.

At a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, Jaishankar said that India is looking for the best conditions beneficial to the Indian consumer in the global market, considering that it is the duty of his government in a country that is considered the third consumer of oil in the world.

The Indian minister praised the existing relations between his country and Russia, stressing New Delhi’s desire to strengthen cooperation with Moscow in various fields.

He added that he held talks with his Russian counterpart on the conflict in Ukraine, indicating that the two sides will continue to discuss this issue in the future.

For his part, the Russian Foreign Minister announced that his country and India will soon achieve the goal of raising the volume of trade exchange to $30 billion, pointing out that the current figure is about $17 billion.

The Russian Foreign Ministry had reported earlier that the two ministers would also discuss issues related to combating terrorism and the situation regarding the Iran nuclear deal and preparations for the Indian presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as well as the situations in Afghanistan, Syria and Ukraine.

India, like China, refused to join the sanctions imposed by the West against Russia over the war in Ukraine.

-Ranjith Perera-