With German minister by his side, EAM S Jaishankar schools journalist on Russian oil import

EAM S Jaishankar said that European Unions, from February to November, have imported more fossil fuel from Russia than the next 10 countries combined.

On the trade front, Jaishankar said Germany is India's largest partner in the European Union.

India has time and again cleared it that the country will continue its import of Russian oil to suit the requirement of its citizens. However, the Western and European media appears to have not learnt its lesson. Today, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar again schooled a journalist who questioned India's oil import from Russia. Jaishankar was addressing a joint press conference with visiting German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock.

Upon being asked about the Russian oil import, Jaishankar said, "European Unions, from February to November, have imported more fossil fuel from Russia than the next 10 countries combined. The oil import in European Union is six times what India has imported while the gas import is infinite times because we don't import it."

He further asked people to look at the figures available at a website called 'Russia Fossil Fuel Tracker'. "It would give you country-by-country data of who is really importing what and I suspect that might be very very helpful," said Jaishankar.

EAM S Jaishankar met Baerbock today and discussed wide-ranging issues including the Ukraine conflict, the Indo-Pacific region, and developments in Afghanistan. Jaishankar said both ministers also touched upon the issue of multilateral issues, including the reforms of the UN Security Council and India's G20 Presidency.

"Today, we exchanged views on major international issues of the day, apart from our bilateral relationship. This included the conflict in Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific strategic situation, and developments pertaining to Afghanistan and Pakistan to some degree," the external affairs minister said during the presser.

Jaishankar further said, "We also discussed multilateral issues. India and Germany interact in the framework of the G4 when it comes to the reform of the UN Security Council. We had a discussion on India's G20 presidency, which comes just as Germany itself is concluding a successful G7 presidency." 

The two ministers also signed an agreement on the comprehensive migration and mobility partnership. On the trade front, Jaishankar said Germany is India's largest partner in the European Union. "We are today supporting the India-EU negotiations on trade, investment and geographical indicators. We hope that they will progress well. The third round of negotiations on the FTA has just concluded," he said.