US Secretary of State Antony J Blinken has called the India-US 2+2 ministerial dialogue at Washington a big moment in global affairs, stressing that the partnership with India will be “more consequential and vital”.
He requested India not to buy any more Russian oil. “When it comes to oil purchases, sanctions, et cetera, I just note that there are carve-outs for energy purchases. Of course, we’re encouraging countries not to purchase additional energy supplies from Russia. Every country is differently situated, has different needs, requirements, but we’re looking to allies and partners not to increase their purchases of Russian energy,” Blinken said.
Responding to this, the External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar said that India’s total monthly purchase will be less than what Europe purchase in an afternoon.
“If you are looking at energy purchases from Russia, I would suggest that your attention should be focused on Europe, which probably – we do buy some energy which is necessary for our energy security, but I suspect looking at the figures, probably our total purchases for the month would be less than what Europe does in an afternoon,” he said.
The 2+2 ministerial dialogue was held between the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and India’s External Affair Minister Dr S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
Reportedly, at a joint press conference issues like Ukraine crisis, Covid-19 pandemic, free and open democracy among others were also discussed.
