Russia is sending
oil to India at a heavily discounted rate after many western nations snubbed
Moscow oil over its invasion of Ukraine. India, which has maintained a strictly
non-partisan stance on the Ukraine crisis, is now facing criticism from the
West for buying Russian oil and in turn funding the Kremlin’s military manoeuvres
in eastern Europe.

Battling this criticism,
Indian finance minister S Jaishankar, in the presence of UK foreign secretary
Liz Truss, said, “When the oil prices go up, I think it’s natural for countries
to go out in the market and look for what are the good deals for their people.”

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The United Kingdom
is one of the global players who have take issue with India’s stance on Ukraine
publicly. On March 17, UK trade minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said the UK was
very disappointed with India’s position on Ukraine.

“We are very
disappointed, but we continue to work with Indian partners and hope that their views
will change. India is an incredibly important trading partner for the UK,” she
said.

Liz Truss, who is
in India on a two-day visit, had said earlier that UK must help India in ending
the country’s dependence on Russia. It was in front of her that the Indian
foreign minister said, “But I am pretty sure if we wait for two or three months
and actually look at who are the big buyers of Russian oil and gas. I suspect
the list would not be too different from what it used to be and I suspect we
won’t be in the top 10 on that list.”

Jaishankar further
said, “If you look at the major buyers of oil and gas from Russia, I think you
will find most of them in Europe.” He said India buys less than one percent of
its fuel requirement from Russia and mostly relies on the Middle East and the
United States for its oil needs.

On the other hand,
Liz Truss said that the UK will end its dependence on Russian oil by the end of
the year. She pointed that India is a sovereign nation and she was not going to
tell it what to do, a weighted statement for a British minister to make.

Jaishankar’s message
to the UK came on the same day Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in
India on a two-day visit.