‘We look for partners not preachers’ – Indian foreign minister

Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar has rebuked European leaders for their hypocritical attitude when it comes to the South Asian nation.

“When we look out at the world, we look for partners, not preachers – particularly preachers who do not practice at home what they preach abroad,” he said at the Arctic Circle India Forum on Sunday.

Jaishankar was commenting on Europe’s difficulty in achieving “strategic autonomy,” highlighting the continent’s reliance on the US for security, Russia for energy, and China for trade, all of which he implied is being challenged by current global realities.

At the forum, the minister spoke of the constraints impacting India’s ties with Europe, while acknowledging that New Delhi’s relations were better with some nations on the continent and worse with others. 

“But 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 realization of how the world works,” Jaishankar said. “And I think these are all work in progress to differing degrees with different parts of Europe. So some have moved further, some a little bit less.” 

The Indian Foreign Minister also stated that previous attempts from the West to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict without involving Russia, “challenged the basics of realism.”  

In contrast, he said India had a pragmatic approach to its relationship with Russia, which he termed “Russia realism.” He emphasized that this is based on the strong synergy between India and Russia, noting that they have a mutually beneficial partnership, with Russia serving as a key resource provider and India as a significant consumer.

Despite Western concerns, India has strengthened its diplomatic ties with Russia and actually increased its imports of Russian crude oil throughout the Russia-Ukraine conflict, demonstrating New Delhi’s commitment to an independent foreign policy.