‘Katchatheevu row is one of Congress’s foreign policy legacy issues’
The row over Katchatheevu was one of the foreign policy legacy issues of the Congress regime which had led to “enormous problems” that were avoidable, said Harsh Vardhan Shringla, a former top diplomat and the chief coordinator of India’s G20 Presidency.
In an interview with The Hindu, Mr. Shringla advocated the continuation of dialogue between Indian and Sri Lankan ¢sherfolk on a regular basis to resolve their ongoing dispute, adding that it should be facilitated by the two governments.
As regards the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution [which is an outcome of the 1987 Indo-Lanka Accord, and which provides devolution of power to Sri Lankan Tamils], Mr. Shringla favoured continued engagement with the neighbouring country to ensure that all the provisions were implemented.
Russian crude oil
India’s policy of continuing with the import of crude oil from Russia had not only helped stabilise the price of fuel domestically, but had also softened the impact of economic sanctions on oil supply globally, he said.
On the sanctions imposed by the West against Russia, Mr. Shringla cited an independent estimate to assert that had India not purchased crude from
Russia, it would have resulted in oil prices shooting up signi¢cantly. “Imagine the impact that would have made across the world, especially on vulnerable, developing countries in the Global South,” the veteran diplomat said.
Mr. Shringla, who had also served as India’s Ambassador
to the U.S., Bangladesh and Thailand, explained that Indian companies, after re¢ning and processing the crude oil, had been selling the re¢ned products even to Western buyers. “It is very clear that the oil, after the processing, is no longer seen as Russian oil. Value addition takes it out of the scope of sanctions,” he said.
Emphasising that India was buying oil from Russia within the price cap of $60 a barrel on the basis of cost, insurance and freight (CIF), Mr. Shringla, who held the post of Foreign Secretary from January 2020 to April 2022, said, “We have never contravened sanctions, multilateral or unilateral. We tell our suppliers not to use shipping lines against which the sanctions are in force. So, our purchase of oil has all along been legal.”
On the implications of the victory of the People’s National Congress in the Maldivian parliamentary election, Mr. Shringla said, “I do not see our relations with neighbours on a zerosum basis. We need to work with all elected governments in our neighbourhood. In the case of the Maldives, there has been a long tradition of cooperation across the board, and that sort of cooperation is indispensable.”
Referring to a number of Maldivians coming to Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala for medical treatment, he wanted the Indian and Maldivian governments to strengthen people-to-people ties.
As regards the crisis in West Asia and the RussiaUkraine con¦ict, India’s principle had been “diplomacy and dialogue”, which had been captured in the G-20 resolution, too, he said.