New Delhi’s decades-long relationship with Moscow cannot be restructured in a matter of months, the State Department says.
Ned Price, a spokesman for the US State Department, said Washington did not believe it could quickly disrupt decades-long bilateral relations between India and Russia.
During a briefing on Tuesday, Price was asked if the groups, where Washington and New Delhi jointly participated – including the Quartet Security Summit of the United States, India, Austria and Japan – held a summit on the same day – had failed. Has issued a strong statement on Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.
“India has a relationship with Russia that has developed over decades,” he said. While the conflict in Ukraine has been going on for only three months, “Price responded, making it clear that it was not long enough for the Indian authorities to change their position.
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“We never thought that attempts would be made to restructure or rebuild India’s historic relationship with Russia – which has developed over decades – in days, weeks or even months.” He said.
But thanks to the bipartisan efforts of the George W. Bush administration between 2001 and 2009, the United States can now “A partner for India that we could not be when India’s relations with Russia developed during the First Cold War,” he said. The spokesman mentioned.
Cooperation between Washington and New Delhi includes economic, trade and security cooperation with Washington “I am confident that these relationships will be even stronger going forward.” He added.
India has refused to condemn Russia for sending troops to Ukraine in late February and has resisted US pressure to join tough international sanctions against Moscow. New Delhi began buying a record amount of Russian oil during the conflict.
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India and Russia have officially described their relationship as one “Special and privileged strategic partnerships.” According to US research estimates, 85% of India’s weapons system is of Russian or Soviet origin, not just economics and politics, but also security.
