Russian imports | West did not supply weapons to India for decades: Jaishankar
The Hindu
Western countries saw military dictatorship in the region as its preferred partner, EAM Jaishankar said
India has a substantial inventory of Soviet and Russian-origin weapons because the Western countries opted a military dictatorship in the region as its preferred partner and did not supply weapons to New Delhi for decades, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said on October 10, in an apparent reference to Pakistan.
During a joint press meet with his Australian counterpart Penny Wong in Canberra, Mr. Jaishankar also said that India and Russia have a long-standing relationship that has certainly served New Delhi’s interests well.
“We have a substantial inventory of Soviet and Russian-origin weapons. And that inventory actually grew for a variety of reasons. You know, the merits of the weapons systems themselves, but also because for multiple decades, Western countries did not supply weapons to India, and in fact, saw a military dictatorship next to us as the preferred partner,” Mr. Jaishankar said, in an apparent reference to Pakistan, which was a close ally of the U.S.-led West during the Cold War.
Pakistan has been ruled by the Army Generals for more than half of its 73 plus years of existence.
“We all in international politics deal with what we have, we make judgments, judgments which are reflective of both our future interests as well as our current situation. And my sense is, in terms of this current conflict, like every military conflict, there are learnings from it, and I am sure my very professional colleagues in the military would be studying it very carefully,” Mr. Jaishankar said.
He was asked by an Australian reporter whether India should reduce its reliance on Russian weapons systems and rethink its relationship with Russia, given what is going on in Ukraine.
Last month, Jaishankar, during a joint press conference with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, said that India exercises a choice which it believes is in its national interest when it is offered weapons.