[India]India says "no" to Germany
Author: Liu Chenghui
Translated from https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/WlpyGq-pWcx4dJ8hvmTiOg
On December 5, local time, German Foreign Minister Baerbock visited India. One of the objectives of her visit was to persuade India to join the West in imposing price limits on Russian oil. However, after the meeting with Baerbock, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said that India would continue to buy oil from Russia because of its energy needs. In particular, Jaishankar reminded that Europe actually imports much more energy from Russia than India.
Ahead of her trip to India, Baerbock told The Hindu that a price cap on Russian oil would be at the top of the agenda in bilateral talks, and that she hoped India would assist the West in imposing sanctions on Russia and comply with the decision to set a $60 per barrel price cap on Russian seaborne oil.
The Associated Press (AP) and the Hindustan Times reported on 5 May that Jaishankar and Baerbock touched on bilateral relations and topics related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict during their talks that day. At a press conference after the talks, Jaishankar said Europe has the right to make its own choices and that European countries actually import far more energy from Russia than India.
"From February 24 to November 17 this year, the EU imported more fossil fuels from Russia than the next 10 countries in line combined. Take India, the EU imports about six times more oil from Russia than India. Natural gas is even more, because we don't import Russian gas ...... The EU already imports about €50 billion of Russian gas. Even for coal, the EU imports 50% more from Russia than India."
"Having said that, we still need to reach a consensus among governments and even the media." Jaishankar stressed, "I understand that there is a conflict there and I understand that Europe has its own views, but Europe prioritises its own energy needs on one side and asks India to do something different on the other ......"
Jaishankar added: "What I want to remind people is that today, it is Europe that is buying more (of Russian energy)."
On December 5, the $60 price cap set by the West on Russian oil came into effect. On 8 November, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov met with the visiting Jaishankar in Moscow. In a press conference after the meeting, Sujesen said that India will continue to purchase oil from Russia and that the two countries will also expand trade relations.
On 11 November, US Treasury Secretary Yellen said the US would be happy for India to buy Russian oil "to its heart's content" if it could circumvent Western insurance, financial and maritime services restricted by the Group of Seven (G7) price limit on Russian oil. This includes buying at a higher price than the price limit mechanism.
"The Deutsche Welle 5 report noted that this was Baerbock's first visit to India since becoming German foreign minister, during which she praised the relationship between the two countries. The German Foreign Minister said she sees a lot of potential for cooperation between Germany and India, both in terms of economic and security issues. "The partnership between Germany and India is not only in the economic sense ...... but also a partnership of values." Baerbock said she felt the visit was like "going to see a good friend". She added that India has an important position in the world and "will decisively influence the formation of the international order in the 21st century."
It is worth noting that at the press conference, when asked if "Germany sees India as an alternative partner to China", Baerbock denied this, explaining that India has always been an important partner for Germany and the EU. "For India, we are not only linked through a partnership in the economic sense ...... but we are also linked through a values partnership." With regard to China, Baerbock stressed that the country has changed dramatically in recent years, which is why direct communication with neighbouring countries such as India is so important.