‘India-Russia relationship has worked to my advantage’, says EAM S Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is on a two-day visit to Moscow and talked about India’s relationship with Russia on Tuesday.

EAM Jaishankar also described Moscow as a steady and time-tested partner of India.

During the joint press conference made these remarks along with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.

Amid western outcry, EAM talked about India’s increasing oil import and said, “There is stress on the energy market created by a combination of factors. But as the world’s third-largest consumer… a consumer where the level of income is not very high, it is our obligation to ensure that the Indian consumer has the best possible access to the most advantageous terms on the international market.

“In that respect, the India-Russia relationship has worked to my advantage. If it works to my advantage, I would like to keep that going,” Jaishankar said.

The external affairs ministers further talked about India-Russian cooperation and said, “The fact that I am here today with a delegation to review our cooperation speaks about India-Russia cooperation to see how we can take it forward to create a long-term and sustainable basis, says it all.”

Meanwhile, talking about India-Russia relations EAM said, “I said any objective evaluation of our relations for many decades would confirm that it has served both our countries very well. If it has served my country for many many decades. I think you can obvious interests and commitment I would have in keeping that relationship strong and steady.”

Moreover, due to war with Ukraine which started in February affected global food security and increased the prices of crude.