The Russian Foreign Ministry has confirmed seamless deliveries of Russian oil to Bharat, with no reported payment issues, according to the state-owned news agency TASS.
Russian Foreign Ministry official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova highlighted during a briefing that oil supplies to Bharat remain consistently high, with no challenges encountered in determining payment methods for the exported oil.
Zakharova emphasised that priority is given to national currencies in payments, allowing Bharat to avoid reliance on banking transactions influenced by Western standards.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar reaffirmed Bharat’s commitment to purchasing Russian oil despite sanctions imposed on Moscow amid the ongoing military conflict with Ukraine. Jaishankar reiterated the longstanding stable and friendly ties between Bharat and Russia, accentuating Moscow has always safeguarded Bharat’s interests.
Jaishankar in an interview to German economic daily Handelsblatt during his visit to the country for the Munich Security Conference said Europe should understand that Bharat cannot have a view of Russia that is identical to the European one.
On being asked about Bharat buying Russian oil, Jaishankar said, “Everyone conducts a relationship based on their past experiences. If I look at the history of Bharat post-independence, Russia has never hurt our interests.”
Jaishankar stated Bharat and Europe have engaged in discussions to understand each other’s perspectives and have not emphasised their differences. He noted Europe had redirected a significant portion of its energy sourcing to the Middle East following the outbreak of conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Prior to this, Russia served as the primary energy supplier for Bharat and several other nations.
“What should we have done? In many cases, our Middle East suppliers gave priority to Europe because Europe paid higher prices. Either we would have had no energy because everything would have gone to them. Or we would have ended up paying a lot more because you were paying more. And in a certain way, we stabilised the energy market that way,” he added.
