‘Unjustified pressure’ on India due to its energy cooperation with Moscow: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said there is under “unjustified and enormous pressure” on New Delhi due to its energy cooperation with Moscow. 

Describing India as a great power that determines its national interests and chooses its partners, Lavrov termed Ukraine’s remarks on the recent meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Moscow “insulting”. 

“I think India is a great power that sets its own national interests, determines its own national interests, and chooses its own partners. And we know that India is being subject to enormous pressure, completely unjustified pressure in the international arena,” Lavrov said. 

Lavrov was responding to a question in the United Nations about PM Modi’s recent visit to Moscow and the opposition faced by India for its energy cooperation with Russia. Russia took over the UN Security Council presidency for July and Lavrov is in New York to chair meetings of the Council being held under Moscow’s presidency. 

Modi went on his first bilateral visit to Russia during his third term on July 8-9 at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin for the 22nd India – Russia Annual Summit. This was Modi’s first trip to Russia since the start of the Ukraine conflict. 

India is yet to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and has consistently pitched for a resolution of the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also criticised Modi’s visit to Moscow. In a post on X (formally Twitter), Zelenskyy wrote of the Modi-Putin meeting: “A Russian missile struck the largest children’s hospital in Ukraine, targeting young cancer patients. Many were buried under the rubble. It is a huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts to see the leader of the world’s largest democracy hug the world’s most bloody criminal in Moscow on such a day.” 

India had conveyed to Kyiv its displeasure over the remarks. It was learnt that India’s disappointment over the comments by Zelenskyy was communicated to Ukraine’s mission in Delhi. 

Referring to Zelenskyy’s comments about Modi’s trip to Russia being “a stabbing in the back of all peace efforts”, Lavrov said, “that was very insulting and the Ukrainian ambassador was called in” and the Indian Ministry of External Affairs “talked to him about how he should be behaving.” 

“The ambassadors were really behaving as if they were hooligans,” he said, referring to remarks made by other Ukrainian envoys. 

“So, I think India is doing everything right,” he said.  

Lavrov noted that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has answered questions, including about why India was buying more oil from Russia. Lavrov said Jaishankar cited statistics that showed that the West has also increased its purchases of gas and oil from Russia, despite some of the restrictions that have been imposed. 

“But the fact that the West is exhibiting its displeasure to powers -- like China, like India -- well, it shows their lack of erudition, their inability to partake in diplomacy, and also speak to the failure of political analysts. Because speaking this way, to these great Asian powers… you might dream of that but it’s really beneath them. It’s really beneath them behaving this way vis-a-vis any and all countries but in particular when they’re speaking in this way to these two giants, these two great powers.” 

On India’s oil purchases from Russia, Jaishankar had said that it is his duty to put the interest of the Indian people first. “It’s not just that we buy oil from one country. We buy oil from multiple sources, but it is a sensible policy to go where we get the best deal in the interests of the Indian people and that is exactly what we are trying to do,” Jaishankar had said.