India looks for partners, not preachers: Jaishankar on expectations from Europe

New Delhi: Europe display sensitivity and mutuality of interest for deeper ties with India, which is looking for partners that do not resort to preaching, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday in the context of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Jaishankar, who was participating in an interactive session, criticised attempts by the West to find a solution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict without involving Moscow by saying that such an approach “challenged the basics of realism”.

There is an “important fit” and complementarity between India and Russia as a resource provider and consumer, he said against the backdrop of efforts by the US administration to broker a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.

Jaishankar responded to a question at the Arctic Circle India Forum on India’s expectations from Europe by saying it has to act on the basis of mutuality. “From our point of view, if we are to develop a partnership, there has to be some understanding, there has to be some sensitivity, there has to be a mutuality of interest, and there has to be a realisation of how the world works,” he said.

“When we look out at the world, we look for partners. We do not look for preachers, particularly preachers who do not practice at home and preach abroad,” he said. “I think some of Europe is still struggling with that problem. Some of it has changed.”

Europe has “entered a certain zone of reality check” and India’s ties with the region are a “work in progress to differing degrees with different parts of Europe”, he said.

In the context of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Jaishankar said India has always been “very careful not to prescribe a solution”. He added, “We have not told one or the other party to do this or do that, and that is important to remember because that is not a courtesy that is not always granted to us.”

Referring to India’s long-standing ties with Russia, he said there is an “important fit and complementarity” between the two countries as a resource provider and consumer. “Where Russia is concerned, we have always taken a view that there is a Russia realism that we have advocated,” he said.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, India remained engaged with Russia and stepped it its purchase of discounted Russian crude, inviting criticism from the West. India has said its relations with Russia are driven by national interests.

“When passions were very high [in] 2022-2023...the kind of predictions and scenarios which were put forward have turned out not to be well founded,” he said. He criticised the thinking in the West that a solution to the conflict could emerge without involving Russia.

“The idea that you will get a solution out of Russia without inviting Russia challenged the basics of realism. We have always felt that there is a need to engage Russia. Nobody wants war, particularly in a very interdependent world. These are lose-lose situations,” he said. “I think for us, to engage Russia, if there is any way we can be of help, we have always been very open about it.”