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Defending India’s “freedom of choice” in foreign relations, the government on July 25 reacted sharply to a U.S. official who told the U.S. Congress that Washington was “disappointed” about the “symbolism and timing” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Moscow earlier this month.
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The exchange of statements came just as External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar began a visit to Laos and Japan, where he is expected to interact with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the ASEAN and Quad meetings.
The U.S. official, Under Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu, had referred to “tough conversations” that the U.S. government is having with Indian counterparts, indicating that the issue of India-Russia ties continues to impact ties between Delhi and Washington, despite efforts to smooth over the cracks, including during a call between National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and his U.S. counterpart Jake Sullivan.
“You must understand that India has a long-standing relationship with Russia that is based on the mutuality of interests,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in response to questions during the Ministry’s weekly briefing. “In a multipolar world, all countries have freedom of choice. It is essential for everybody to be mindful of and appreciate such realities,” he added.
In a congressional hearing on Budget Request for South and Central Asian Affairs, Mr. Lu was asked about Mr. Modi’s embrace of President Vladimir Putin on the same day Russia launched missiles on Ukraine, including a children’s hospital.
“I could not agree with you more about our disappointment about the symbolism and the timing of Prime Minister Modi’s trip to Moscow. We are having those tough conversations with our Indian friends, I assure you,” Mr. Lu told lawmakers at the joint subcommittee hearing.
Mr. Lu even sought to defend the visit, explaining that Mr. Modi had also met Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a few weeks prior to travelling to Russia, and had spoken to Mr. Putin about the missile attacks, particularly on children in Ukraine.
He also pointed out that there were no new major defence deals or major discussions on technology cooperation in the outcomes. In addition, Mr. Lu made an unverified claim, stating that India had cancelled “billions of dollars in defence purchases over these last two and a half years because the Russians can’t deliver anymore”, and added that the U.S. ws “working very hard on that”.
“I share your concern about this visit, and we are trying very hard to communicate those concerns directly to the Indians,” Mr. Lu said in response to questions from U.S. Representative Joe Wilson, who also expressed concern about Indian purchases of Russian energy, “the funding of which is going to kill Ukrainians”.
Experts say that while a few outlooked India-Russia military hardware deals have not gone through due to other reasons such as India’s push for “Atmanirbhar’ or Make in India projects, and Mr. Modi’s recent Russia visit not seeing the conclusion of a pending military logistical agreement, RELOS, no deals have been actually “cancelled” in the past few years.
When asked, the External Affairs Ministry spokesperson sidestepped Mr. Lu’s assertion, but said that India-Russia joint statements released during Mr. Modi’s visit included a special “thrust on economic aspects of the relationship”, which indicated the future course of ties.