Russia Guarantees Energy Supply Agreements with India Amid External Competition

MOSCOW, May 13. /TASS/. Russia guarantees that agreements on energy supplies to India will be fulfilled in full despite unfair external competition, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with RT India. "I can guarantee that India’s interests as they apply to Russian supplies will not suffer. We will do everything to ensure that this unfair and dishonest competition does not damage our agreements," he noted. The foreign minister stressed the importance of "keeping the broader picture" of the global energy market in mind, including major energy supply routes. In this context, he recalled the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, pointed to aggression in the Strait of Hormuz and warned that the Bab el-Mandeb Strait "could also become a zone of confrontation." "The ensuing damage to global energy markets would be immeasurable. In this regard, both in our relations with India and in the broader Eurasian context - within the framework of the SCO - it is important for us to develop solutions that ensure protection against the risks posed by such aggressive moves by Western countries aimed at breaking up the global economy and subordinating it to their self-serving interests," Lavrov said.