Russia has never hurt India’s interests: S Jaishankar
Russia has never hurt India’s interests and everyone conducts a relationship based on their past experiences, was External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s straight reply to German economic daily, Handelsblatt.
“…The relations of powers like Europe, the US, China or Japan with Russia, they have all seen ups and downs. We have had a stable and always very friendly relationship with Russia. And our relationship with Russia today is based on this experience. For others, things were different, and conflicts may have shaped the relationship. We, on the other hand, had a politically and militarily much more difficult relationship with China, for example,” Jaishankar said, adding,” My point is: just as I do not expect Europe to have a view of China that is identical to mine, Europe should understand that I cannot have a view of Russia that is identical to the European one. Let us accept that there are natural differences in relationships.”
The interview was conducted during Jaishankar’s recent visit to Munich.
When asked if India-Russia ties put a strain on India-Europe relations, Jaishankar said, “Both sides have communicated their positions clearly and have not emphasized their differences. But yes, there are differences. You mentioned the energy issue. When the fighting started in Ukraine, Europe shifted a large part of its energy procurement to the Middle East — until then the main supplier for India and other countries. What should we have done? In many cases, our Middle East suppliers gave priority to Europe
