‘Dictatorship preferred’: Jaishankar’s recent remarks that drew wide attention

Foreign minister S Jaishankar's comment on Monday - that India's Russian-origin inventory of weapons grew over decades due to lack of supply from the West - drew wide attention yet again. Over the last few months, the minister has been praised for reiterating India's stance amid the Ukraine war with his sharp remarks. His blunt response on Monday came during his visit to Australia. "West saw a military dictatorship - next to us - as the preferred partner," he said in a strong remark in reference to neighboring Pakistan.

Amid the Ukraine war, which began in February, the West has repeatedly called for the isolation of Russia, which has been a supplier of weapons and fuel to the world. While multiple countries have announced sanctions, India has refused to stop its fuel supply from the country, being labeled as an aggressor in the midst of the conflict.

All this while, Jaishhankar has more than once stressed on India's decision of continuing its transactions with the country.

Here are some of the comments by Jaishankar that have drawn wide attention:

On India's oil purchase from Russia, the minister - in August at an event - had said: "I have a country that has a per capita income of 2,000 dollars. These are not people who can afford high energy prices.". Stressing that India's interests come first, he had underlined: "It is my moral duty - an obligation - to ensure to get them the best deal possible from the world."

Last month, at a joint press conference with US secretary of state Antony Blinken, the foreign minister had said that amid the Ukraine conflict "the price of oil was breaking our back". He had made the comments during a US visit.

On the United States' F-16s package for Pakistan, he had said the US "is not fooling anyone". "Very honestly, it is a relationship that has ended up serving neither Pakistan well nor serving American interests well. It is really for the US to reflect what the merits of the relationship [are] and what they get by keeping it sort of continuing," he had said, speaking on India-Pakistan ties. Antony Blinken, however, had defended the deal, saying that Pakistan faced real terror threats and that the package would add to the country's capabilities.

At another event , Jaishankar had spoken about the restrictions in Kashmir following the Article 370 move, which scrapped J&K's special powers about three years ago. "Can internet cut be more dangerous than loss of lives?" he had asked.

He has also been targeting the neighbouring country over the support to terror groups. "We have a neighbour. Like we are an expert in information technology, they are expert in international terrorists," the union minister said to a crowd at an event that responded with an applause.