referrer" href="https://indianexpress.com/article/india/not-buying-russia-oil-will-not-stop-war-jaishankar-10862383/">indianexpress.com)
The immediate trigger for the row in Kyiv was not only Ukraine’s longstanding objection to India’s energy trade with Moscow, but also the prospect of tougher US action against major buyers of Russian oil. The Kyiv Independent reported that India is Russia’s second-largest crude customer after China, and said purchases by India and China have been a major source of revenue for Moscow since the full-scale invasion in 2022. According to The New Indian Express and The Times of India, Jaishankar’s answer came after he was asked whether India would cut purchases if Washington went ahead with sanctions or tariffs aimed at countries continuing to buy Russian energy. (kyivindependent.com)
Jaishankar’s response was designed to show that India sees the issue first through the lens of national need. As reported by The Indian Express, he said: “This conflict, which is today in its fifth year, will not dissolve because somebody is buying or not buying oil or alumina or minerals or metals…” He added that the route out of the war was “dialogue, by diplomacy, by negotiations”. Hindustan Times reported that he also told journalists they needed to understand the difficulty of securing energy for 1.4 billion people in what he described as a very difficult global market, while making clear that India respected Ukraine’s position and expected the same in return. (indianexpress.com)
The visit formed part of a carefully managed diplomatic sequence. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met Vladimir Putin in Bishkek on 31 August, where the Indian government said the two leaders discussed the Black Sea region, maritime trade and the safety of Indian seafarers, and Modi reiterated that dialogue and diplomacy were the way forward. He is due to see Putin again at the BRICS summit in New Delhi on 12-13 September. Jaishankar echoed that message in Kyiv, saying India remained ready to “help in any manner”, and News On AIR later reported from Warsaw that he had said there were no winners in war and that India was examining ideas that might help reduce or end the conflict. (pmindia.gov.in)
Ukraine welcomed the outreach, but it did not entirely share India’s emphasis. The Ukrainian foreign ministry described Jaishankar’s trip as the first ever standalone bilateral visit to Ukraine by an Indian external affairs minister, and said Andrii Sybiha briefed him on escalating Russian attacks on civilian vessels, ports and port infrastructure. In a social media message quoted by The Indian Express, Sybiha called the trip “historic” and said Ukraine was ready for diplomacy. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked India for its “commitment to ending this unjust war”, but in his evening address on 3 September he also said Ukraine was preparing September meetings so that Russia would feel “the economic consequences” of its actions. (mfa.gov.ua)
That difference in emphasis was visible in the discussion on Black Sea shipping. The Ukrainian president’s office said Zelenskyy and Jaishankar talked about threats to civilian navigation and to food exports, with Zelenskyy arguing that Russian attempts to block Ukrainian ports and food corridors were damaging global stability and required a collective response. Jaishankar, according to The Indian Express and News On AIR, linked the issue to India’s own losses, saying Indian seafarers serving on ships under many flags had become casualties and that disruption to shipping was worsening fuel, fertiliser and food pressures across the Global South. Those concerns are not abstract for New Delhi: Indian Express reporting in July recorded four Indian deaths on the MV Golden Leo after a Russian strike off Odesa, while a separate report said another Indian seafarer was killed in an attack on a vessel in the Black Sea later that month. (president.gov.ua)
Away from the argument over oil, both sides tried to show that the relationship is wider than the war. News On AIR said India has sent 19 consignments of humanitarian aid to Ukraine, including 160 tonnes of generator sets, medicines and medical equipment. The Ukrainian presidency put current bilateral trade at $2.6 billion and said the two sides discussed expanding cooperation in agriculture, food security and industry. The Times of India and The Indian Express added that Jaishankar spoke of trade in pharmaceuticals, food and agriculture, fertilisers, machinery, chemicals and consumer goods, said wartime logistics had disrupted commerce but not broken it, and pointed to digital innovation, start-ups and artificial intelligence as areas for future work. He also thanked the Ukrainian authorities for looking after Indian students and invited Sybiha to India for the next meeting of the intergovernmental commission. (newsonair.gov.in)
What comes next is still uncertain. The US sanctions threat that helped frame the Kyiv exchange appeared less immediate by 4 September: the Associated Press reported that the Senate-passed Russia bill was not on the House schedule as lawmakers returned to Washington, while Bloomberg said opposition in the House meant it was likely stalled at least until after the November midterm elections. At the same time, Zelenskyy said US envoys were expected in Kyiv after talks in Moscow, underlining how quickly the diplomatic picture is moving. For now, though, India’s position is on the record: it will keep arguing that oil purchases are a symptom of the war’s geopolitics, not the key to ending it, even as Ukraine presses partners to wield more economic pressure on the Kremlin. (apnews.com)
Source: Noah Wire Services
