New York: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has given a resounding retort to an Al-Jazeera reporter asking her to look at Europe when she said India risked sanctions for currency arrangements for energy purchases.
“If you are looking at energy purchases from Russia, I would suggest that your attention should be focused on Europe,” he said, and after pausing dramatically as if making a mental calculation, he added, “Probably our total purchases for the month would be less than what Europe does in an afternoon. So you might want to think about that.”
Many reporters were obsessed with India’s oil purchases from Russia, asking questions about it at the three briefings on Monday after the 2+2 meeting of Jaishankar, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, as they have at earlier briefings.
