NEW DELHI: External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Friday said India should not be “unfairly targeted” in the context of the Ukraine war, as New Delhi continues to face pressure over its oil trade with Russia.”Had a telecon today with Finnish Foreign Minister,” Jaishankar posted on X. “Our discussions centered around the Ukraine conflict and its ramifications. India should not be unfairly targeted in that context. We have always advocated dialogue and diplomacy.”
The remarks come as India is facing 50 per cent tariffs from the United States for purchasing Russian oil. The US administration has accused New Delhi of “funding the war” by continuing trade with Moscow. India has strongly criticised Washington’s decision, calling the tariffs “unjustified and unreasonable”. The Trump administration recently raised duties on Indian goods to over 50 per cent as a penalty for India’s oil imports from Russia. Last week in Moscow, Jaishankar defended India’s position during a joint press briefing with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. He questioned the rationale behind Washington’s move. “We are not the biggest purchasers of Russian oil; that is China. We are not the biggest purchasers of LNG, that is the European Union. We are not the country which has the biggest trade surge with Russia after 2022; I think there are some countries to the South. We are a country where the Americans have said for the last few years that we should do everything to stabilise the world energy market, including buying oil from Russia. Incidentally, we also buy oil from the US, and that amount has increased. So honestly, we are very perplexed at the logic of the argument that you (the media) had referred to…” Jaishankar said.
