Jaishankar was asked whether India should reduce its reliance on Russian weapons systems and rethink its relationship with Russia, given what is going on in Ukraine. (AP)External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday that India has a substantial inventory of Soviet and Russian-origin weapons because Western countries opted a military dictatorship in the region as its “preferred partner” and did not supply arms to New Delhi for decades, in a thinly-veiled reference on US’ ties to Pakistan.
After holding talks with his Australian counterpart Penny Wong in Canberra, Jaishankar also said that India and Russia have a long-standing relationship that has certainly served India’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,” Jaishankar said.
“We all in international politics deal with what we have, we make judgements, judgements 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,” Jaishankar said, in response to questions whether India should reduce its reliance on Russian weapons systems.
Jaishankar also said that India and Australia, as liberal democracies, believe in a rules-based international order, in freedom of navigation in international waters, in promoting connectivity, growth and security for all.
Wong said that Australia and India have recognised that the Indo-Pacific region is being ‘reshaped’ both economically and strategically and underlined that the partnership with India is a ‘critical part’ of shaping the region.
“As liberal democracies, we both believe in a rules-based international order, in freedom of navigation in international waters, in promoting connectivity, growth and security for all,” he said.
He also emphasised what the two sides have emphasised in ensuring that countries make “sovereign choices on matters that are important to them.”
“Australia and India are comprehensive strategic partners. We are QUAD partners. We partner in many other ways and most fundamentally, we share a region, the Indo-Pacific region and between our countries, we span a great breadth of the Indo-Pacific,” Wong said after both ministers held the 13th Foreign Ministers’ Framework Dialogue.
“For Australia, our partnership with India is a critical part of shaping the region we want,” she said.
Jaishankar also met Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles and said that the growing defence and security cooperation between both countries ensures a peaceful, prosperous and rules-based Indo-Pacific region.