NEW DELHI: Foreign minister S Jaishankar flagged trade, India-Pakistan mediation and the controversy over India’s purchase of oil from Russia as three issues that have complicated the relationship with the US. The minister ruled out any compromise on the red lines drawn by India in trade negotiations and on mediation while underscoring India’s position on oil that such decisions are about upholding national interest and strategic autonomy.The discussions for a bilateral trade deal could not take place as the US delegation called off its visit, but the minister said “negotiations are still going on in the sense that nobody has said the negotiations are off”. “People do talk to each other. It’s not like there’s a complete cut,” he said, speaking at the ET World Leaders Forum. Asked about US charge that India is profiteering from Russian oil, Jaishankar said it’s funny to have people who work for a pro-business American administration accusing other people of doing business. tnnThat’s (US allegations that India is profiteering from Russian oil) really curious. But here’s the point: if you have a problem buying oil from India – oil or refined products – don’t buy it. Nobody forces you to buy it. What Europe buys, America buys. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said.”So, when it comes to trade and the interests of farmers, when it comes to our strategic autonomy, when it comes to opposition to mediation, this govt is very clear. If anybody disagrees with us, please tell the people of India that you’re not prepared to defend the interests of farmers. Please tell the people of India you don’t value autonomy. We will do whatever we have to do to maintain it,” he said, adding that the red lines are primarily the interests of India’s farmers, and to some extent small producers.On improvement in ties with China, he said India always maintained that if the border is stable, predictable, and free of incidents, there is a natural improvement in rest of the relationship. “The border has been stable for some time now, & as disengagement was completed, it was logical that there would be improvement in other areas… it’s not a great U-turn where everything is fine now,” he said.”For our farmers, a predictable flow of fertilisers is important. For those in infrastructure, getting machinery from China is important. For our auto industry, an uninterrupted flow of magnets is important. These are legitimate issues of our industry. We should take them up with China and address them for the businesses and workers of India,” he said.Reiterating India’s position that it helped stabilise oil prices when there was a great deal of nervousness about them, Jaishankar said there was a series of very explicit conversations with the Biden administration saying US had no issues with India’s buying.
