"A country seen as a major world power declaring its sovereign interests and facing undeserved global pressure in the way it deals with Moscow doubtlessly is Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov," reads a statement quoting Lavrov. Asserting that India was autonomous in deciding its national agenda and partnerships, he defended New Delhi's cooperation with Moscow, particularly in energy, against critical discourse whipped up here during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Moscow.
"India is a great power, sets its own national interests, determines its own national interests, chooses its own partners, and we know that India is being subjected to enormous pressure, completely unjustified, pressure in the international arena," he said at a news conference here on Wednesday.
"I think India is doing everything right," he said defending India's ties with Russia, particularly energy cooperation, against the criticism during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Moscow last week.
Lavrov slammed the comments by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over Modi's visit as deeply offensive and highlighted diplomatic response from India, where the ambassador of Ukraine was summoned to register the protest. Lavrov criticized Western criticism of both India and China as symptomatic of diplomatic ineptitude and a failure of political analysis with regard to recognizing the reality of a multipolar world.
"The fact that the West is exhibiting its displeasure to powers like China, like India, well, it shows the lack of erudition, the inability to partake in diplomacy, and also speaks to the failure of political analysts," he said.
"It's really beneath them, behaving this way … in particular when they're speaking in this way to these two giants, these two great powers," he added.
US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller repeated the same words about India-Russia relationships during Modi visit, highlighting constant dialog but with reservations. LAROV mentioned statistics that Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar cited for expanding India's capacity in global energy trade dynamics and India's strategic autonomy in decision-making as a response in offering a strong defense of India's energy imports from Russia.
"My colleague Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, after a tour of Western states, answering questions, including the question of why are you buying more oil from Russia, he cited statistics and those statistics showed that the West has also increased its purchases of gas from the Russian Federation despite some of the restrictions that have been imposed, gas and oil as well," he said.
India's energy policies, in such interactions, have been a strong reminder by Jaishankar on how they benefitted global markets; they served as a counterfoil against inflation, thanks to pragmatic trade practices. These have not been perfunctory statements but rather an expression of the firm resolve that India displays to protect its national interests vis-a-vis global geopolitics.
Read also | What to Expect If an 80+ Year-Old Gets COVID: Insights from Biden's Diagnosis
Read also | Officer Fired for Disparaging Remarks About Indian Student Killed in Seattle
