External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday asserted that India’s strategic approach to oil purchases amid the Russia-Ukraine war has played a significant role in softening global oil and gas markets, consequently helping manage global inflation. While the West imposed sanctions and restrictions on Russia’s oil exports since its war on Ukraine, India’s refiners have been snapping up discounted Russian oil.
“So we’ve actually softened the oil markets and the gas markets through our purchase policies. We have, as a consequence, actually managed global inflation. I’m waiting for the thank you,” Jaishankar said during a conversation organised in London.
The minister underlined India’s strategic approach to oil purchases as a crucial factor in preventing a potential surge in global oil prices, thereby safeguarding the country’s position in the international market against European competition.
Jaishanakar explained, “When it comes to the purchase…I think the global oil prices would have gone higher because we would have gone into the same market to the same suppliers that Europe would have done and as we discovered Europe would have outpriced us.”
He further noted, “We saw that in the LNG markets where actually many supplies which were traditionally coming into Asia were diverted to Europe and in fact at least India was a big enough country to command some respect in the markets but there were much smaller countries who didn’t even get responses to their tender in Paris because the LNG suppliers were no longer interested in dealing with them.”
“They have bigger fish to fry.”
Jaishankar, who concluded his five-day visit to the UK on Wednesday, was speaking at an event titled ‘How a billion people see the world’ during which he covered a broad range of topics, including the “momentum” behind India’s growth story, realities of the relations with China and the rise of a “more authentic” India.
Vikram Sharma is a globe-trotting journalist with a global perspective on international events. His articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing insights into the world’s most pressing challenges.
