Moscow never hurt India’s interests: Jaishankar

Following the conflict in Ukraine, India’s energy suppliers in the Middle-East gave priority to provide petroleum products to Europe that paid higher prices and New Delhi did not have any option but to procure Russian crude oil which in turn stabilised the global energy market, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said.In an interview to German economic daily Handelsblatt, Jaishankar also suggested that India was open to play the role of a mediator to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict if approached, but at the same time, said New Delhi does not believe that it should initiate anything in this direction on its own.He asserted that just as India does not expect Europe to have a view of China that is identical to New Delhi’s, Europe should understand that India cannot have a view of Russia that is identical to the European one.Jaishankar said if Europe was so convinced and the principles were so important, why did it allow relations to end “gently”? “Why were there exceptions for pipeline gas, for individual countries, and so on? That’s what governments do, they manage politics with an eye on the consequences for their people,” he said.Asked if India would have liked support from Europe in the border conflict with China in 2020, he said “My point is: just as I do not expect Europe to have a view of China that is identical to mine, Europe should understand that I cannot have a view of Russia that is identical to the European one.””Let us accept that there are natural differences in relationships,” he said.On the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Jaishankar said India is “deeply convinced, and are publicly committed to bringing the conflict to an end.””Everyone is suffering from this conflict. I don’t know exactly how it will end, we’re not deep enough into the process to know,” he said.Asked if that was a reason why India could be a mediator, Jaishankar said: “Theoretically, yes. We have already helped with very specific issues.””When Turkey