On India staying away from West’s sanctions on Moscow, Russian FM says this

Russia on Friday said spoke about India’s unwillingness to join the West in imposing sanctions on Moscow over the Ukraine war.

A statement released by the embassy of Russia quoted its foreign minister Sergey Lavrov as saying that India has publicly rejected any bid to be involved in restrictions on the country’s energy purchases. Lavrov also cited his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar in this regard.

“India doesn’t want to join the sanctions. Indian leaders, including my colleague, EAM Dr S Jaishankar, have publicly rejected any attempts to involve them in restrictions on the Russian energy purchases,” Lavrov was quoted as saying at an event, adding, “They have made it clear that they will follow their own interests.”

He was speaking on the prospects of the Russian-Indian partnership. Stating that India has always been one of Russia’s key priorities, Lavrov said Russia’s relations with India are now characterised as the special and privileged strategic partnership.

He said it is “indeed a relationship that is developing robustly and rests on a solid foundation of friendship since India’s struggle for independence”.

Lavrov’s statement came as a meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers were held during the day wherein they agreed to impose a price cap on Russian oil aimed at slashing revenues while avoiding price spikes. Moscow has said it would halt oil sales to countries imposing it.