Russia backs India over energy import, slams West pressure as “unjustified”

“I think India is a great power that sets its own national interests, determines its own national interests, and chooses its own partners. And we know that India is being subject to enormous pressure, completely unjustified pressure in the international arena,” Lavrov said.

Lavrov was responding to a question about Prime Minister Modi’s recent visit to Moscow and the opposition faced by India for its energy cooperation with Russia.

With Russia presiding over the UN Security Council for July, Lavrov is in New York to chair Council meetings under Moscow’s presidency.

PM Modi paid an official visit to Russia on July 8-9 at the invitation of President Putin for the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit. This was Modi’s first trip to Russia since the start of the Ukraine conflict.

India hasn’t condemned Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and has consistently advocated for resolving the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticised PM Modi’s visit to Moscow, saying in a post on X, “A Russian missile struck the largest children’s hospital in Ukraine, targeting young cancer patients. Many were buried under the rubble. It is a huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts to see the leader of the world’s largest democracy hug the world’s most bloody criminal in Moscow on such a day.”

India conveyed its displeasure over Zelenskyy’s remarks to Ukraine’s mission in Delhi. Lavrov noted that the Ukrainian ambassador was summoned and the Indian Ministry of External Affairs discussed how he should behave.

“The ambassadors were really behaving as if they were hooligans,” Lavrov said, referring to other Ukrainian envoys’ comments. “So I think India is doing everything right,” he added.

Lavrov highlighted that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, after touring Western nations, answered questions about why India was buying more oil from Russia.

Jaishankar cited statistics showing the West has also increased its gas and oil purchases from Russia, despite imposed restrictions. Jaishankar stated that India would decide for itself on how to trade and defend its national interests.

“But the fact that the West is exhibiting its displeasure to powers like China, like India, well, it shows their lack of erudition, their inability to partake in diplomacy, and also speaks to the failure of political analysts. Because speaking this way, to these great Asian powers…you might dream of that, but it’s really beneath them,” Lavrov said.

Jaishankar has defended India’s oil purchases from Russia, emphasising that it is his duty to prioritize the interests of the Indian people to ensure they do not bear the cost of other countries’ actions.

“It’s not just that we buy oil from one country. We buy oil from multiple sources, but it is a sensible policy to go where we get the best deal in the interests of the Indian people, and that is exactly what we are trying to do,” he said.

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