"It is our moral duty to ensure best deal, India can't afford higher oil prices..." EAM Jaishankar on importing Russian oil

Slamming those questioning India's integrity over buying crude from Russia, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said that it is his moral duty to provide best possible deal to its citizen and India has been very honest about its interest. S Jaishankar, who is in Thailand to attend the 9th India-Thailand Joint Commission Meeting, while addressing the Indian community in Bangkok  

"...We've been very honest about our interest. I have a country with per capita income of $2000, these aren't people who can afford higher energy prices. My moral duty to ensure best deal...," said the External Affairs Minister.  

He said the world has accepted India's position on buying Russian oil amid the war in Ukraine, because New Delhi has been very clear in its approach from the very beginning.  

"Once you laid out very openly and honestly, people accept it. They may not always appreciate it but once it is there and you are not trying to be too clever about it, you actually have laid out your interest in a very direct manner, my sense is that the world somewhat accepts that as reality," Jaishankar said.  

#WATCH |On India importing Russian crude oil, EAM says, "...We've been very honest about our interest. I have a country with per capita income of $2000, these aren't people who can afford higher energy prices. My moral duty to ensure best deal..."(16.8)

(Courtesy: EAM's FB page) pic.twitter.com/KdDZrEEL0I

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Oil and gas prices are unreasonably high due to Russia-Ukraine war and a lot of traditional suppliers are diverting to Europe as the continent is buying less from Russia. 

"Oil prices are unreasonably high and so are the gas prices. A lot of traditional suppliers to Asia are diverting to Europe because Europe is buying less oil from Russia. It is a situation today where every country will try to get the best deal possible for its citizens, to try to cushion the impact of these high energy prices. And that is exactly what we are doing," Jaishankar added. 

The oil prices have softened significantly in the past one month and brent crude traded around $92 a barrel on Tuesday.

With Inputs from ANI