India’s foreign minister Jaishankar warns energy shocks from conflicts are hitting jobs, kitchens

New Delhi: India’s External Affairs Minister has warned that energy and trade disruptions caused by the West Asia conflict are already hitting households and jobs as global food, fuel, fertiliser prices increase.

Speaking at the 62nd Munich Security Conference, Dr S Jaishankar said the immediate concern was “the energy and trade disruptions which have happened as a consequence of this (West Asia) conflict.” Energy markets, he added, “are deeply unsettled.”

“This is people’s kitchens, jobs, and their livelihoods, and these are all on the line for us because we were primarily dependent on that part of the world,” he said. India wanted “a restoration of that uninterrupted flow of energy, trade, and mobility, because we are paying the price in many ways for conflicts in which we have no part and are often very distant from us.” He also hoped that “whatever emerges is in consonance with international law.”

Since the conflict started on 28th February with the US, Israel attacking Iran, the energy prices have increased, especially with the closure of Hormuz and increased disruptions in the Red Sea. Delhi has responded by diversification, procuring from different sources, including the US and Venezuela.

Also Read: ‘US deliberately becoming a lonelier power, its radical repositioning reshaping global order’: EAM Jaishankar

On relations with Moscow, Jaishankar said India and Russia had “historically very good relations, particularly since the 1950s. That history is not forgotten.” The Soviet Union, he said, “stood by us in many ways when our security, when our territorial integrity was under threat,” at a time when “much of the world preferred backing a military regime next to us”, indicating Western support to successive Pakistani military regimes.

The relationship, he argued, had widened beyond that legacy. “There is a military component, there is a nuclear component, there are space issues, but there is a significant amount of trade and investment between the two countries and energy and resources as well.” India’s experience, he said, had been “quite positive and consistently positive.”

Also Read: Al Qaeda linked magazine calls for flydubai like attacks

Indian imports of Russian energy have significantly increased since the war in Ukraine started in 2022. Currently trade stands at around $67 billion, with a substantial being India’s import of Russian energy, but this has led to an increased trade deficit.

He described the current Russia-Ukraine conflict as “unfortunate” and restated New Delhi’s position that it “would like to see an end to this conflict. This will require dialogue and diplomacy.” India had “been advocating it for many years, and in recent months we have got a little bit more involved beyond advocacy,” holding talks with both Russia and Ukraine. Those contacts, he said, began with “the Black Sea safety of shipping issue” and now covered “grain exports, energy exports, non-attack possibilities.”

EAM Jaishankar himself has been to Moscow and Kyiv this year, with PM Narendra Modi telling the Russian President that “endless wars” need to come to an end, as impact grows on global south countries.