Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyan Jaishankar was in Moscow on Nov. 8-9 for talks with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov concerning the extensive relationship between their two countries. Jaishankar reaffirmed for the media that India would continue purchasing Russian oil and gas, as it was in their national interest to do so. “It is our fundamental obligation to ensure that the Indian consumer has the best possible access on most advantageous terms to international [energy] markets,” Jaishankar stated. As of October figures, Russia is now India’s largest oil supplier, at 22%, with Iraq now in second with 20.5% and Saudi Arabia in third with 16%, according to energy cargo tracker Vortexa, as reported by RT.
Lavrov emphasized that cooperation between the two countries is not limited to oil, and extends across the energy sector: There are “good prospects in energy cooperation,” including joint projects on nuclear energy and oil and gas development in the Arctic shelf and Russia’s Far East, referring to the Sakhalin-1 project, Lavrov stated.
He added: “Our meeting today is devoted to assessing the state of our bilateral cooperation, exchange of perspectives on the international situation and what that means to our respective interests. We would be discussing how our shared goals are best achieved,” Jaishankar told Indian news agency ANI. They discussed the whole gamut of their relationship, including important global issues like Ukraine, climate change, and international terrorism. “We coordinate our actions in international organizations such as the UNSC, where India is now a non-permanent member,” Lavrov said, adding “all this is enriching our agenda and I am confident that today, we are going to have a good conversation about all this.”