 "'Waiting for the thank you': S Jaishankar on India softening oil markets")
At an event in London, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar asserted India's role in stabilising global oil and gas prices through its strategic purchase policies during the Russia-Ukraine war and said he was waiting for the "thank you".
During a conversation hosted by the High Commission of India in London, titled "How a billion people see the world," Jaishankar said, "So we've actually softened the oil markets and the gas markets through our purchase policies. We have, as a consequence, actually managed global inflation. I am waiting for the thank you."
He added that India's approach to oil purchases prevented a surge in global oil prices, preventing potential competition with Europe in the market.
He said, "When it comes to the purchase...I think the global oil prices would have gone higher because we would have gone into the same market to the same suppliers that Europe would have done, and as we discovered, Europe would have outpriced us."
While acknowledging India's significance in the global markets, Jaishankar noted, "We saw that in the LNG markets where actually many supplies which were traditionally coming into Asia were diverted to Europe and in fact at least India was a big enough country to command some respect in the markets but there were much smaller countries who didn't even get responses to their tender in Paris because the LNG suppliers were no longer interested in dealing with them."
"They have bigger fish to fry," the EAM added.
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In addressing India's stance on the Russia-Ukraine war, Jaishankar highlighted the balance between principles and interests: "We have learned the hard way that people speak of principles...But they are tempered by interest. In this particular case, we have a very powerful interest in keeping our relationship with Russia."
During the conversation, Jaishankar underscored India's pivotal role in reforming global institutions like the G20 and BRICS, saying, "we are partly evolutionary, partly revolutionary."
When asked about India's role in reforming the post-1945 global institutions of governance or building alternatives, he said, "We are partly evolutionary, partly revolutionary. We want change without excessive disruption."
He also went on to elucidate several notable recent achievements of India, ranging from the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic to the economic changes, the recapitalisation of banks, the effort to boost exports, the renewed business confidence, the socioeconomic changes and a "massive" embrace of digital technology.
(With agency inputs)