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

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.

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

Russian FM Sergey Lavrov speaks at an event. (Photo credit@RusEmbIndia)

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.

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.

"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 said the two nations have close cooperation in the energy sector with Russian companies working in India, while the latter's firms setting up shop in Siberia and the Far East. "Close and especially confidential military-technical cooperation, including the production of appropriate modern weapons on the Indian territory. We have diversified ties in the agricultural sector, in processes that we are now trying to develop together in the so-called "green transition". The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant is one of the flagships of our strategic partnership," he added.

The Russian FM further hit out at the West for openly threatening nations if they did not stop cooperating with Moscow. “They “rush about” with this and proudly declare in public that they demanded that such-and-such countries should impose sanctions against Russia, otherwise they will face consequences."

"From the perspective of not even diplomacy, but common sense, how can they make such arrogant public statements in relation to such countries as India, China, Turkey, Egypt, Indonesia? When these states being publicly threatened, does no one understand that such civilisations have self-esteem? It is simply insulting to hear such demands,” Lavrov said.