China, Not India, Biggest Purchaser Of Russia Oil: Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday that China, not India, is not the biggest purchaser of Russian oil.

Jaishankar added that it is some country in the South that has had the biggest trade surge with Russia after 2022.

"We are not the biggest purchaser of Russian oil, that is China. We are not the biggest purchaser of LNG, that is the European Union," Jaishankar said during the press briefing in Moscow.

Over the last few years, Americans have asked India to do "everything to stabilise the world energy market". This also includes buying oil from Russia, according to the external affairs minister.

The press briefing followed his meeting with his Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

"We believe that relations between India and Russia have been among the steadiest of the major relationships in the world after the Second World War," he said after the meeting.

During the meeting, both the ministers reaffirmed the goal to expand bilateral trade in a balanced and sustainable manner, including by increasing India’s exports to Russia.

Russia also said that it will support India's Make in India goals, including through joint production and technology transfer.

In the meeting, Jaishankar also discussed the issue of Indians serving in the Russian army. While many have been released, there are still some pending cases and some missing persons, and he hopes that the Russian side would expeditiously resolve these matters.