World needs pragmatism to deal with crises and challenges it faces: Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri

Davos: Citing India's example in dealing with implications from the Ukraine-Russia war, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday said the world needs to deal with challenges and crises pragmatically.

Speaking at a session on 'energy and rivalry' here at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, Puri said India took a pragmatic approach in the very beginning after the Ukraine war signalled an energy crisis and the results are for everyone to see.

Puri, minister for petroleum and natural gas as well as housing and urban affairs, said India has a large population to take care of and it's the government's responsibility to feed millions of people three times a day.

"But at the same time we have not let our domestic compulsions come into the way of our global commitments towards a sustainable future," he asserted.

Another panelist, European Commission's Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson said she agrees that pragmatism is necessary and Europe also recognises that.

The panelists, including representatives of industry and academia, talked about energy and geopolitics becoming increasingly interlinked and countries openly competing to diversify their global energy supplies, including oil, gas and clean energy solutions.

At the same time, countries were enhancing the resilience of their energy supply chains, both geographically and for critical minerals.

Puri said changes that are taking across the world and with the multiple crises out there, for a country like India it needs to ensure sustainable growth while delivering to its growing population.

"India's consumption is growing three times that of the global average. India is currently in process of building housing space every year equivalent to one Chicago," he said.

"All the challenges the world face, we have to face those pragmatically. If India has allowed itself to be put into a situation to draw from the same resources after the Ukraine crisis, our fuel prices would have gone up drastically," he said.

"We took a pragmatic decision and the results are for everyone to see," he said.