Jaishankar speaks to Russian counterpart amid oil supply crunch

New Delhi: With the West Asia conflict destabilising energy supplies, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday spoke to his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov and European Union's Foreign Policy chief Kaja Kallas with a focus on navigating the fallout of the crisis.

Global oil and gas prices have surged after Iran has virtually blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow shipping lane between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman that handles roughly 20 per cent of global oil and LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas).

"A good telecon with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of Russia. Shared our assessments on the West Asia conflict and related diplomatic efforts. Also took stock of our bilateral cooperation agenda," Jaishankar said on social media.

It is not immediately known if India's procurement of Russian crude oil figured in the talks.

The Jaishankar-Lavrov conversation came days after the United States said it is issuing a temporary 30-day waiver to New Delhi to allow Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil in view of disruptions in the energy market.

The external affairs minister also said that he held "useful" discussion on the West Asia conflict and its repercussions with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kallas.

In the last few days, Jaishankar has been holding phone conversations with his counterparts from several countries on the West Asia crisis.

On Tuesday, he spoke to Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun.

Like many other countries, India too has been reeling under shortage of petroleum products, especially cooking gas.

India meets half of its 191 million standard cubic metres per day (mmscmd) of gas consumption through imports. With the stalling of tanker movement through the Strait of Hormuz, about 60 mmscmd gas from the Middle East has been disrupted. agencies