India has received support from Finland amid America’s imposition of penalty on India for purchasing oil from Russia. Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen, while defending India’s energy imports from Russia, said that India has purchased oil only as per the oil price cap rules set by Western countries.

India’s External Affairs Minister S. at a panel discussion event at Kultaranta Talks held in Finland. Jaishankar and UAE Assistant Foreign Minister Lana Nusseibeh were also present. There Valtonen said that the purpose of the price cap system created by Western countries after the Russia-Ukraine war was not to stop the world from buying Russian oil.

What did Finland’s Foreign Minister say?

Elena Valtonen said, ‘India has bought oil under the price cap and this was the purpose of this arrangement. According to him, the purpose of the oil price cap was to maintain the supply of oil in the global market, and not to completely stop all countries from buying Russian oil. Elena Valtonen said that when the oil price cap was implemented, the countries of the world were not stopped from buying Russian crude oil. Its objective was to ensure that there was no major disruption in the global oil market and that Russia did not get too much profit from oil sales.

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Strong defense of India’s energy policy

During this, Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar also strongly defended India’s energy policy. He said that India purchases oil keeping in mind the price and availability. He said that I buy oil on the basis of price and availability. Jaishankar said that after the imposition of sanctions on Russia in the year 2022, the situation in the global energy market had completely changed. At that time many European countries were buying oil from the Middle East, which was earlier a major supplier to India. In such a situation, India had to look for other options for its energy needs and the circumstances took it forward in a new direction. He also claimed that at that time America had encouraged India to buy oil from Russia to keep the global oil market stable. Jaishankar said, “At that time America had specifically asked India to buy Russian oil to stabilize the oil market.” He further said that this issue should not be seen as a matter of any big principle.

What did Jaishankar say about Gulf countries?

Jaishankar said that many European countries have been selling such weapons, which have been used against India for years. He said, ‘We Indians have never done anything to put Europe in danger, so this should also be kept in mind.’ He also clarified that it would not be correct to say that India is keeping distance from the Gulf countries. Jaishankar said that today Russia is India’s largest oil supplier, while America has become the largest gas supplier. He told that till February 28 this year, this place was with Qatar. He stressed that relations between India and Gulf countries are not limited to oil and gas only, but there is a broad and strong partnership between the two.

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