Russia’s Foreign Minister praises Jaishankar for stand on Russian imports

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov praised his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar for his tough stand on Russian imports despite Western pressures. He called Jaishankar a ‘real patriot’ for stating that India will decide its own foreign policy, following pressures to cut down on imports from Moscow amid the Ukraine war. 

“EAM Jaishankar is a seasoned diplomat and a real patriot of his country when he said ‘we will be taking the decision for our country on the basis of what India believes it needs for its development for its security’. Not too many countries can say something like this,” he said in an interview to India Today. 

Lavrov pointed out that his country cannot depend on the West for food security, defence, and other strategic sectors. He said that Russia is open for cooperation with countries that do not use “illegal, illegitimate measures in violation of the UN charter”. “And India is among those. We cooperate bilaterally,” he added. 

The Russian minister called India a “very, very old friend”. He said that relationship started as a ‘strategic partnership’ and transformed into a ‘privileged strategic partnership’, then finally an ‘especially privileged strategic partnership’. 

He said that Russia supports Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ scheme. Lavrov said that production of goods needed by India was shifted to Indian territory. 

“On defence, we can provide anything India wants, and technology transfer in the context of defence cooperation is absolutely unprecedented for any of India’s outside partners,” the minister said. 

(With inputs from Geeta Mohan)

Also read: India’s monthly oil purchase from Russia less than Europe’s in an afternoon: Jaishankar

Also read: Analysing impact of Ukraine crisis on India-Russia bilateral trade, says MEA