During the Munich Security Conference, when External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was asked about relations between India and Russia, he gave such a ‘smart’ answer that even Antony Blinken could not stop himself from laughing.
Actually, both Blinken and Jaishankar were present in a program and the host was asking them questions.
On one of his questions, Jaishankar said, if we are so smart that we have many options, then what is there to worry about. You should praise us for this.
Regarding the war between Russia and Ukraine, the host told S Jaishankar, it seems that India’s foreign policy has now shifted from ‘non-alignment to all alignment’.
India did not listen to America in the matter of buying oil and has continuous trade relations with Russia. On this Jaishankar said, is this a problem?
Why should this be a problem? If we are smart we have lots of options. You should praise us.
This is not a problem for others either. I want to tell that there are a lot of pressures on a country. It is very difficult to build one-dimensional relations with any country.
Antony Blinken was smiling when the moderator asked S Jaishankar about continuing oil purchases even during the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia.
Jaishankar responded by saying, I do not want you to leave such an impression that we just shift without paying attention to any sentiment.
it’s not like that at all. We also believe in some things. We take people along. Let’s share some things. But things are not the same everywhere.
He said that there is a history behind every relationship. As is a history of relations between the United States and Germany. At the same time, a country needs different friends for different things.
He said life is very complicated. Good allies give you options, and smart allies take away some of them.
Let us tell you that Antony Blinken and his German counterparts were attending a program along with S Jaishankar. The Foreign Minister has reached Germany to participate in the 69th Munich Security Conference.
S Jaishankar on this platform projected India as a non-western country which has good rapport with western countries.
He said, India is not anti-west but a non-west country which has good relations with western countries also. BRICS and G20 are also examples of this.
Let us tell you that in 2023, 35 percent of the total oil imported from Russia was imported from Russia. This import in March 2023 was the highest in the last three years.