Washington. The US has said that since India has decades-old ties with Russia, it will take a long time to shift its foreign policy towards Russia. The US said it is working “very closely” with India through the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) and other fora.
Asked about India’s purchases of Russian oil, fertilizers and possibly Russian defense systems, US State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters here, “It is not my job to talk about foreign policy of another country.” ‘
State Department spokesman Ned Price said
He said, ‘But I heard from India, I can talk about it. We have seen countries around the world speak openly about many things, including their vote in the UN General Assembly against Russia’s attack on Ukraine. We also understand this and as I had turned around for a while, it is not like pressing the power button.
It will take a long time for India to shift its foreign policy to Russia
Responding to a question, he said, “This problem is especially with those countries which have historical ties with Russia, like in the case of India, whose relations are decades old. It will take a long time for India to overcome its bias towards Russia in its foreign policy.
Russia became India’s second largest crude oil supplier in May
Russia attacked Ukraine on 24 February, after which the US and European countries imposed strict sanctions on it. Despite criticism from Western countries, India has continued to import oil and trade with Russia after the Ukraine war. In May, Russia became India’s second largest crude oil supplier after Saudi Arabia. Iraq is the largest oil supplier to India. Indian oil companies imported 25 million barrels of oil from Russia in May.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s statement
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that the US and other countries of the world may not have appreciated India’s decision to buy oil from Russia, but they have accepted it as New Delhi has never defended its stand, Rather, it made them realize what a responsibility it is. Amidst the ‘unreasonably high’ prices of oil and gas, the government has to its people.
$5 billion deal with Russia Signature
India signed a $5 billion agreement with Russia in October 2018 to buy five units of the S-400 air defense missile system. Responding to questions related to multilateral joint military exercises involving Russia and several other countries, including China and India, Price said, “Countries routinely make their own sovereign decisions.” It is their absolute right to decide which military training they want to attend. I would also mention that most of the participating countries regularly conduct military exercises with the US as well.
Relations between China and Russia have increased in many areas including security.
“I don’t see anything else related to this activity,” Price said. Now the broader theme is that we have seen growing relations between China and Russia in many areas, including security. We have seen growing relations between Russia and Iran and we have said this publicly.
Russia challenging Saudi Arabia by cutting crude oil prices, India took advantage
He said that this is a matter of concern given the attitude of countries like China and Russia towards the international system.
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tags: china, India Russia, Russia, Ukraine
First Published: August 18, 2022, 19:00 IST
