‘Russian Crude…Not Russian Anymore’: Jaishankar As EU Calls for Ban on Indian Oil Products

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar defended India’s import of Russian oil on European soil after EU Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell suggested sanctions on oil products from India.

Jaishankar said Russian crude is substantially transformed in a third country and not treated as Russian anymore as per the council regulations. His remarks came after Borrell reportedly said the EU should put sanctions on refined oil products from India using Russian oil.

“My understanding of council regulations is that Russian crude is substantially transformed in a third country and not treated as Russian anymore. I would urge you to look at Council’s Regulation 833/2014,” he said.

After the Ukraine war began in February 2022, India increased the import of discounted crude oil from Russia despite criticism from the West.

Jaishankar was in Brussels for the first meeting of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC).

Earlier in the day, he said in the era of volatility and uncertainty, it’s important to de-risk the global economy and yet to ensure that there is very responsible growth, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said.

The India-EU TTC meeting, co-chaired on the Indian side by Jaishankar, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Communications, Electronics and IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, covered key focus areas of strategic technologies, digital governance and green energy technologies.

“It’s been a very strong start. And there is a context to what we are doing. In this era of volatility and uncertainty, it’s important to de-risk the global economy and yet to ensure that there is very responsible growth," Jaishankar told the media.

“So a lot of what we discussed related to resilient and reliable supply chains, to trust and transparency in the digital domain; in the fact that we today will have to focus on how to get the best out of a global talent pool in a knowledge economy," he said.

The TTC was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, during her visit to India in April last year.

In his opening remarks at the meeting, Jaishankar said India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) is a significant milestone in the strategic partnership between India and the European Union due to its focus on critical domains.

(With inputs from ANI, PTI)