New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday said if India had not resisted pressure from the West over purchase of Russian crude during the Russia-Ukraine conflict then petrol prices in India would have gone up by Rs 20 a litre.
During an interaction with some eminent persons in Cuttack, the EAM said on the question of India’s foreign policy, and what is planned ahead:
“The pressure on Russia-Ukraine, we were clear; suppose we were not clear, and if we said sorry we will not do what we did (referring to purchase of Russian crude), the petrol prices would have gone up by Rs 20 because of that."
He was referring to the pressure from the Western bloc of countries against India's purchase of Russian crude at discounted prices due to the sanctions slapped on Russia over the Ukraine war.
“When we take a stand on foreign policy it is for the average citizen,” he said, adding that if India had imported Covid vaccines, then people would not have been able to afford the imported vaccine.
He also said that the world is facing a lot of problems – ranging from the Ukraine war, the Middle East war, the attack on ships in the Red Sea, the tensions with China on the border, and problems in the South China Sea, and terrorism in the world, and that India needs a strong leader to take the country through all this.
Asked when India will become a member of the UN Security Council, he said:
“I have every confidence that we will become a member of the UN Security Council; but we will become a member faster if we have a strong PM to whom the world cannot say no”, referring to PM Modi.
