India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is heading to Russia for a two-day bilateral visit. The top Indian minister is expected to hold an audience with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade and Industry Denis Manturov and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday. However, it is not clear if he will be meeting President Vladimir Putin.
“The external affairs minister will meet his counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia. Discussions are expected to cover the entire range of bilateral issues as well as exchange of views on various regional and international developments,” said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi
“Issues pertaining to bilateral economic cooperation in various domains will be discussed.”
The visit by Jaishankar comes right before the G-20 summit, scheduled to take place in Bali from November 15-16.
The G-20 summit assumes importance because this will be the first time since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out in February that western leaders, including US President Joe Biden will be in the same room.
Up until now, India has carefully nurdled its position on the issue with Jaishankar leading the charge. New Delhi hasn’t condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but has requested to solve the conflict through the matter of diplomacy and dialogue.
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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Russia later this year. Thus, Jaishankar could be laying the groundwork for things to come. As the western bloc attempts to alienate Russia, it becomes highly crucial for Putin to have New Delhi in its corner.
Moreover, the visit comes in the backdrop of Russia becoming India’s largest oil supplier in the month of October. According to reports, Kremlin now supplies almost 22 per cent of India’s total crude imports, beating the likes of Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
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Earlier this year, when western pressure was at full tilt on New Delhi to stop importing oil from Russia, S Jaishankar took a rather strong approach and shut the western media saying “buying Russian gas is not funding the war”.
“Why it’s only Indian money and fund coming from India and not gas coming to Europe which funds war, let’s be even-handed out,” said Jaishankar at the Globsec 2022 Bratislava forum
“Why countries in Europe and West and the United States, why don`t they allow Iranian oil in the market why don`t they allow Venezuela oil to come to the market? They have squeezed every other source of oil we have and then say you will not go to the market and get the best deal for the people, it’s not a fair approach,” he added.
Read more: Buying Russian gas is not funding the war, says Jaishankar
(With inputs from agencies)
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