External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar  strongly defended India’s decision to buy Russian oil, stressing that New Delhi’s choices were based on cost and availability considerations and criticised European nations over their arms exports. 

Speaking during the panel discussion at Kultaranta Talks with his Finnish counterpart Elina Valtonen and the UAE’s Assistant Foreign Minister Lana Nusseibeh on ‘Emerging Powers and the New Geopolitical Competition’ in the Finnish capital on Thursday, EAM Jaishankar rejected criticism of India’s stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Asked about Europe viewing India’s stance on the Ukraine conflict as being “too sympathetic to Russia” and “too willing to buy oil from Russia”, he said: “I’ll make two observations. I buy oil based on cost and availability. So, at that point in time, much of the oil available in the market was Russian because Europeans were essentially buying oil from the Middle East, which was our traditional supplier. So, circumstances pushed us in a certain direction.”

EAM Jaishankar also highlighted that European nations export weapons that have later been used to attack India, while no Indian weapon has ever been used to target any European nation.

“Since you spoke about moral ambiguity, I would say that no European country has been attacked with Indian weapons. I wish I could say that for European weapons vis-a-vis India. So, keep that in mind,” he said.

Asked to elaborate, he reiterated India’s security concerns regarding Europe’s arms supplies.

“Europeans sell weapons, which are used to attack India, not now, but for many years. We Indians have never done anything to endanger Europe. I think that’s a reasonable point.”

India has consistently defended its imports of Russian oil, stating that its global energy imports are guided by national interest, citizen welfare and domestic energy security priorities and called for dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the Ukraine conflict.