Energy trade increasingly constricted, says Jaishankar at East Asia Summit
Energy trade increasingly constricted, says Jaishankar at East Asia Summit
M.U.H
28/10/202510
NEW DELHI: India’s growing concerns about the constriction of energy trade, market access and supply chain reliability were highlighted by external affairs minister S Jaishankar at the East Asia Summit in Malaysia on Monday, against the backdrop of strains created by the trade policies and sanctions regime of the Donald Trump administration in the US.
Jaishankar, who represented India at several meetings on the margins of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Kuala Lumpur, said the world community must adhere to zero tolerance for terrorism and step up efforts to resolve conflicts such as those in Gaza and Ukraine, which have jeopardised food security and threatened energy flows.
“Energy trade is increasingly constricted, with resulting market distortions. Principles are applied selectively and what is preached is not necessarily practiced,” Jaishankar said, in an apparent reference to the 25% tariff levied by the Trump administration on India over Russian oil purchases and recent sanctions that have led to the tapering of energy trade with Russia.
“There are growing concerns about the reliability of supply chains and access to markets. Technology advancement has become very competitive, the quest for natural resources even more so,” he said, without directly referring to the churn set off by the US trade policies.
The Indian side has also expressed concern in recent weeks about restrictions imposed by China on exports of rare earth minerals and heavy machinery.
US President Donald Trump imposed the 25% penalty on India in August, weeks after levying a 25% reciprocal tariff on Indian goods. Even as Indian and American officials remained engaged in trade discussions, Trump last week imposed sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, that have affected energy supplies to India.
Russian crude accounted for more than a third of India’s energy imports in 2025, with purchases ramped up shortly after the West imposed sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine in 2025. New Delhi has maintained that its energy purchases are guided by market conditions and aimed at safeguarding consumers’ interests in a volatile environment.
Jaishankar said these changes would lead to an inevitable response from the world community. “Adjustments will be made, calculations will come into play, fresh understandings will be forged, new opportunities will emerge, and resilient solutions will be devised,” he said.
“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,” he said.
Describing terrorism as a “continuous and corrosive threat”, Jaishankar said while delivering India’s national statement at the East Asia Summit that the world community “must display zero tolerance” with “no room for ambivalence” towards terror. “Our right of defence against terrorism can never be compromised,” he said.
The world is also witnessing conflicts with significant repercussions, including human suffering, undermining of food security, threatening of energy flows and disruption of trade. “India, therefore, welcomes the Gaza peace plan. We also seek an early end to the conflict in Ukraine,” Jaishankar said.
In addition to participating in the Asean-India Summit on Sunday, Jaishankar joined the East Asia Summit, which brings together Asean member states with eight key dialogue partners, including India, Australia, China, Japan and the US. India, he said, will support the activities of the East Asia Summit to ensure a peaceful and prosperous future for the region.
This includes India’s commitment to bolstering maritime cooperation in line with the Asean Outlook on the Indo-Pacific and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Jaishankar also referred to Myanmar and said the project to build the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway “continues to progress”. However, he shared concerns about “cyber scam centres in the region” which have entrapped Indian nationals. Hundreds of Indian nationals are believed to have been lured to cyber scam centres located along Myanmar’s border with Thailand that were recently targeted by Myanmarese troops.
