India relied on Russian weapons as West chose to arm military dictatorship, says External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar

NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday said that due to the "Western countries' preference for the military dictatorship in the neighbourhood", India has a substantial inventory of Russian-origin weapons. He said this during a joint press meet with his Australian counterpart Penny Wong in Canberra.

Jaishankar, who is on a visit to Australia, said this in response to a question by an Australian journalist, who asked him whether India will reduce its reliance on Russian weapons and rethink it's relations with Russia owing to the Ukraine conflict.

"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.

He was referring to the Cold War era when the US preferred supplying weapons to Pakistan, which was in the 1980s being ruled by military dictators.

The External Affairs Minister further said that India and Russia have a long-standing relationship that has certainly served New Delhi's interests well.

"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," Jaishankar said further. Last month also Jaishankar, during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, had said that India has a right to choose according to what protects it's national interests, in terms of weapons it wants to purchase.

S Jaishankar, addressing the Indian community in New Zealand, said that there are possibilities for increased cooperation between the two nations in various sectors like business, digital and education.

"Stronger cooperation will ensure peace, prosperity and progress of our common region. Possibilities abound in business, digital, agriculture, education, skills, traditional medicine and maritime security domains," Jaishankar, wrapping up his first visit to New Zealand, tweeted.

While inaugurating the new Indian High Commission Chancery in Wellington on Sunday, the minister said that the relationship between both countries is "due for an update", and "due for refresh". India is New Zealand's 11th largest two-way trading partner with total two-way trade valued at $1.80 billion during the year ending September 2020. Education and tourism are New Zealand's growth sectors with India. (IANS)

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