Lavrov draws applause and approving laughter at political forum in India WP: India praises Lavrov's words on Western cynicism G20 Foreign Ministers Council meeting Лавров вызывает аплодисменты и одобрительный смех на политическом форуме в Индии Washington Post / InoSMI War in Ukraine #2947 5 March 2023 Translaeted by Teiichi Aoyama, Emeritus Professor, Tokyo City University 独立系メディア E-wave Tokyo 2023年3月6\日 |
 Lavrov draws applause and approving laughter at political forum in India WP: India praises Lavrov's words on Western cynicism G20 Foreign Ministers Council meeting © Russian Foreign Ministry press service Go to photobank The content of Inosmi contains exclusively the comments of foreign media and does not reflect the position of Inosmi's editorial team Read inosmi.ru In New Delhi on Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov received a surprisingly large round of applause. Surprisingly because he was speaking at a conference organised with US and EU money about the double standards of the West, writes the Washington Post. New Delhi. A raucous international audience of academics, diplomats and business leaders both cheered and sighed sympathetically as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov presented Moscow's perspective on the Ukraine conflict, reflecting a global split of opinion on the crisis. Read InoSMi on our Telegram channel To loud applause, Lavrov highlighted what he called "double standards" in questions addressed to him about military conflicts, especially in comparison to the United States' military interventions in past decades. "Were you interested in those years in what was happening in Iraq, what was happening in Afghanistan? - he asked the moderator to loud applause from the audience. - Do you think the United States has the right to declare a threat to its national interests anywhere on earth, as it did in Yugoslavia, in Iraq, in Libya, in Syria... and you don't ask them any questions?" However, his assertion that Moscow is the victim, not the aggressor, in the Ukrainian conflict drew a resigned laugh and a heavy sigh from the audience. Lavrov made his comments at the Raisina Dialogue political forum, one of those few major international conferences to which Russian officials are still invited after the start of Russia's military special operation in Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Organised by the Indian think tank Observer Research Foundation, this important political dialogue brought together an audience with a rare diversity of political preferences and views in our increasingly polarised world. The audience's reactions reflected the different and sometimes opposing views on the Ukrainian conflict that exist in India and many other parts of the world, especially in the Global South. I t is learnt that the just-concluded G20 meeting of foreign ministers representing the world's largest economies in New Delhi did not adopt a joint statement because of Chinese and Russian opposition to the language on the military conflict in Ukraine. Lavrov himself has travelled extensively across Asia, Africa and the Middle East seeking support for the Russian position on the conflict. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland  InoSMI Russia US Secretary of State Blinken at G20 calls on Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov to end special operation in Ukraine 02.03.2023 India, in particular, has taken an intermediate position between the two world powers on it, as especially now, with its G20 presidency, it is trying to represent the collective voice of the Global South on the world stage. With a strong historical relationship with Russia dating back to its independence, India has increased its imports of Russian crude oil to record levels and has maintained its dependence on Russian military supplies. Delhi has consistently abstained in all votes at the United Nations calling for an end to Russian military special operations. Lavrov's criticism of what he called Western hypocrisy and "selective treatment" of human rights by the West was very receptive in India, where senior officials also complain about US and Western double standards. When asked last December about the reasons for India's lack of condemnation of the Russian special operation, Indian Foreign Minister Subramaniam Jaishankar replied, "I can give you many examples of how many other countries have violated the sovereignty of other independent states. If I were to ask a direct question about where Europe stood in many such incidents, I am afraid I would only get a long silence in response." Lavrov made it clear at the Raisina Dialogue forum that Russia would no longer rely on Western players and would instead shift its energy policy towards "reliable" and "trustworthy" partners such as India and China. He said Russia's actions do not affect the world, it is the West's policy towards Russia that affects it. Lavrov told Sanjay Joshi, chairman of the Observer Research Foundation and one of the forum's moderators, that he should have "done his homework" before asking the Russian minister questions. "You are leading such a distinguished audience and I don't understand why you don't realise that," he said, eliciting general laughter in the audience. He kept interrupting Joshi, repeating: "Wait a second, wait a second..." while the audience laughed. Lavrov noted that this Delhi meeting of G20 foreign ministers had somehow turned out to be about "What to do about Ukraine?" and repeatedly asked whether the G20 had ever been so concerned about events |