# Russia backed India when world supported Pakistan: Jaishankar 2026-10-04T14:12:28+00:00 | World & Diplomacy | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday, 4 October 2026, that Russia stood by India when its territorial integrity was under threat and much of the world backed Pakistan's military regime. Speaking at the Munich Leaders Meeting in New Delhi, he said the two countries have had strong relations since the 1950s and that this history continues to shape the partnership. India's experience with Russia has been 'consistently positive,' he said. Jaishankar defended India's oil purchases from Russia amid Western criticism, saying Washington had initially encouraged the purchases to stabilise global markets. He told a parliamentary consultative committee that India's priority is to safeguard consumer interests and maintain multiple sources of supply. The minister also said India has moved beyond advocating dialogue in the Ukraine conflict to holding conversations with both Russia and Ukraine, focusing on Black Sea shipping safety, grain and energy exports, and non-attack guarantees. Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a meeting on 31 August that 'endless war must now give way to end of war'. Ukraine foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said on 2 October that Kyiv had received ceasefire proposals from India and three other countries. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Both India Today and Times of India report Jaishankar's remarks in near-identical straight news style, leading with his defence of India-Russia ties and his reference to Soviet support during the 1971 war. Neither outlet frames the statement as a rebuttal to Western criticism or emphasises the Ukraine mediation aspect over the bilateral defence of oil purchases. The uniform coverage reflects the ministerial event format: a parliamentary committee briefing and a conference speech reported verbatim. The only notable difference is that Times of India includes Ukraine foreign minister Sybiha's comment on ceasefire proposals, giving that track slightly more weight. The core tension the coverage leaves open is whether India's active role with both Kyiv and Moscow will produce a concrete ceasefire before the conflict enters its fifth year. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral - indiatoday.in (neutral report) Straight reporting of Jaishankar's speech and committee briefing. - timesofindia.indiatimes.com (neutral report) Wire-copy style coverage, adds Sybiha's ceasefire comment. This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Tags: Munich Security Conference, Narendra Modi, Pakistan, Russia, S Jaishankar, Ukraine Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/russia-backed-india-when-world-supported-pakistan-jaishankar/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/russia-backed-india-when-world-supported-pakistan-jaishankar/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/