New Delhi: Even as German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock began her first official visit praising India for helping G20 to take a “clearer position” against Russia’s “aggression”, Indian external affairs minister S. Jaishankar noted that Europe’s increased procurement of Gulf crude has led to the rise in prices for traditional buyers like India.
After reaching Delhi on Monday, December 5 morning, Baerbock held a formal delegation-level meeting with Jaishankar, which was followed by the signing of a migration and mobility partnership.
In a statement released earlier when she left Berlin, Baerbock claimed that the “clearer position taken by the G20 against Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine was ultimately also possible thanks to India”.
Last month, the G20 Bali joint communique, with its wording on the Ukraine war, was approved by all members, including Russia – and has since been selectively interpreted by various states based on their national priorities.
Speaking at the media interaction, Jaishankar said that the major international issues discussed were “the conflict in Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific strategic situation, developments pertaining to Afghanistan and Pakistan to some degree, Iran, Syria”.
When asked by a German reporter about India’s increasing purchase of Russian oil, Jaishankar repeated the argument that Europe remains the biggest buyer of Russia’s energy supplies
“The European Union between February 24 and November 17 has imported more fossil fuel from Russia than the next 10 countries combined. If I have to give you an India comparison, the oil import in European Union is like six times what India imported…gas is infinity times because we don’t import, whereas European Union has imported 50 billion Euros worth. Even coal imports from Russia by European Union… I’m not singling any particular country is 50% more than India’s import,” said Jaishankar.
The minister indicated that the source of the data was from a website, Russiafossilfueltracker.com, which he recommended for perusal.
According to the website, the EU does remain the largest importer of Russian energy, but the amount has fallen sharply since the invasion of Ukraine. On February 24, European countries paid 505 million Euros to Russia for the daily payment, which came down to 304 million euros on November 25 – a drop of about 40%.
India only bought 11 million Euros worth of Russian energy on February 24. Nine months later, it paid 60 million Euros on November 25 as a daily payment to Russia.
On Monday, the G-7 price cap on Russian oil supply through maritime routes came into force. Germany had earlier pledged to stop buying Russian petroleum products by 2023.
Jaishankar also noted that Europe may be turning away from Russia by sourcing more oil from West Asia, which has increased prices for traditional buyers like India.
“And bear in mind today, Europe is buying a lot from the Middle East. Now the Middle East was traditionally a supplier for economy like India. So it puts pressure on prices in the Middle East as well. So we have been very, very understanding of European choices and European policies,” he said.
In her public remarks in India, Baerbock did not repeat the phrase about India nudging G20 towards taking a stronger line on Russia’s invasion. But, she noted that the “illegal war” had led to India facing difficulties “when it comes to energy supply, and fertilizers”.
Answering another question on Russia’s condition of recognition of annexed territories for starting peace talks, Jaishankar said the basis for the dialogue has to be decided by the parties. “…it’s not for India to specify or to advocate or to a condition that is not our intention, that has not been our approach, it is something which the parties involved will have to decide”.
India has been one of the few major countries which have refused to publicly criticise Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine. It has also consistently abstained on various resolutions condemning the Ukraine war at various United Nations bodies.
Currently, the German foreign ministry is in the midst of drawing up a new China policy “to reduce dependence on Chinese raw materials”. It is also a contested position within the governing coalition in Germany, with the Green Party having a more hawkish position on China compared to its other political allies.
In context to a question on relations with China, Baerback, a Green Party politician, said, “Last year, too, we’ve seen in a very brutal way, that when we have deep economic ties with partners, who are not partners in values, this has economic repercussions, dramatic repercussion for our economies and this is not in our economic interest”.
She repeatedly cited India’s democratic credentials and asserted that both countries have a “partnership of values”. “And we are connected with India, not only by an economic partnership, but a partnership when it comes to people to people connections, and also a partnership of values, and that is different from other countries in the region”.
Besides, Jaishankar expressed concerns over an Indian baby girl who has been living in foster care in Berlin, and said the child should be in her linguistic, religious, cultural and social environment.
The German authorities had taken custody of Ariha Shah over a year back alleging that the parents harassed her. The family members of the child, reportedly over one-and-half-years old, have been seeking her repatriation to India.
”We have concerns that the child should be in her linguistic, religious, cultural and social environment. This is her right. And our embassy is pursuing the matter with German authorities, but it was also a subject which I had brought up with the minister,” he said at a joint media briefing with Baerbock.
”I think it’s a very delicate matter, there are privacy issues involved in it. So I think both governments are handling it with that very much in mind. So, I think that’s as much as I can say, publicly,” he added.
Baerbock, when asked about the matter, said the well-being of Ariha is very important to her.
”As a mother of two daughters, I would like to say that, for me, the well-being of Ariha Shah is very important to me. So I have received detailed information about this case, I can assure you that the child is well, and for everybody in India and for everybody in Germany, and the German authorities, more particularly the child’s wellbeing is the first priority,” she said.
Baerbock said German authorities are also bearing in mind the cultural identity of each child that is taken care of by the ”youth offices” in Germany. ”Children are only taken in custody by the youth office, if there are serious concerns about their wellbeing, for example, violent sexual abuse, or severe neglect,” she said.
”So, as has been said by my distinguished colleague, it is about privacy rights as well so we cannot say more at this point. The case is still pending in court and after the verdict of course, there can be a review, but for us what is most important, the first priority is the wellbeing of the child,” the German minister added.
There were no questions asked at the press conference about Baerbock’s earlier statement on Kashmir, which had led to an outraged protest from India.
The Indian minister said that he spent some time outlining “the challenge of cross border terrorism, and essentially the fact that, we engage Pakistan bilaterally on whatever outstanding issues but the main challenge today is really the fact that we cannot have talks while there is terrorism and I think that was understanding from the German side”.
(With PTI inputs)