External affairs minister S. Jaishankar on Monday used the forum provided by the East Asia Summit to call out the double standard on energy trade and terrorism, seemingly taking a swipe at the Trump administration hours after a bilateral engagement with his American counterpart Marco Rubio.
Stating that the summit was happening in "complicated times", the minister said in the National Statement: "Energy trade is increasingly constricted, with resulting market distortions. Principles are applied selectively and what is preached is not necessarily practised."
India has often talked about the double standard of the West on energy purchases from Russia for targeting New Delhi's decision to buy Russian oil while continuing its own imports from Moscow.
A case in point is the European Union, having a bilateral trade of Euro 67.5 billion in goods with Russia in 2024. As for the US, India had earlier this year pointed out that it continues to import uranium hexafluoride for its nuclear industry, palladium for its EV industry, fertilisers and chemicals from Russia.
Jaishankar did not detail any of this in his speech, nor did he name any country. But what he said was an iteration of the Indian position since the Trump administration slapped India with penal tariffs for buying Russian oil.
Jaishankar's remarks on terrorism in the National Statement also appeared to be directed at the US, given that President Donald Trump has been showering praise on Pakistan, particularly army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir. The minister said: "The world must display zero tolerance; there is no room for ambivalence. Our right of defence against terrorism can never be compromised."
On the current global situation, Jaishankar sought to project confidence about riding the storm. "Change has a life of its own. And the world will inevitably respond to new circumstances. Adjustments will be made, calculations will come into play, fresh understandings will be forged, new opportunities will emerge and resilient solutions will be devised. At the end of the day, the realities of technology, of competitiveness, of market size, digitisation, connectivity, of talent and of mobility cannot be ignored. Multipolarity is not just here to stay but to grow."
Earlier in the day, Jaishankar met Rubio in a bilateral format on the sidelines of the summit. "Glad to meet @SecRubio this morning in Kuala Lumpur. Appreciated the discussion on our bilateral ties as well as regional and global issues," Jaishankar posted on X.
This was the only official comment from either side on the meeting 12 hours later. Neither the US state department nor the external affairs ministry issued a readout on the discussion that took place in the backdrop of the India-US relationship losing the momentum of the past 25 years.
