Islamabad: Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan Again praised India and India’s independent foreign policy. Addressing a public meeting in Lahore, he said how India stands firm on its word and does not take decisions under pressure from any Western country. He even played a video of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in a packed meeting, in which he replied about taking oil from Russia.
Imran Khan said, told India’s foreign minister not to buy oil from Russia. India is a strategic partner of America, we have no partnership with China. When America said don’t buy oil from Russia, then their foreign minister said who are you, Europe is buying gas from them. We need people, we will buy oil from Russia. It is a free country. When this importing government came to us, we talked about buying cheap oil from the Russians. But they did not have the courage. The price of oil and petrol is sky high here. People are living in poverty. I am against this slavery.
“The clip of Mr. Jaishankar played during Lahore Jalsa as of June 3, when in response to a question on India buying Russian oil, he counter questioned, “Is buying Russian gas not funding the war?” Mr. Jaishankar made these remarks at the GLOBSEC 2022 Bratislava Forum being held in Slovakia on the topic ‘Taking Friendship to the Next Level: Allies in the Indo-Pacific Region. He had hit back at the unfair criticism of Indian oil purchase from Russia amid the Ukraine war that has created a knock-off effect on the world economy. While defending India’s oil imports from Russia, Mr. Jaishankar stressed that it is important to understand how the Ukraine conflict is impacting developing countries. He also questioned why only India was being questioned while Europe continues to import gas from Russia amid the Ukraine war.
