World News | Reliance on Russian defense equipment is not lacking in Indian attempts: Jaishankar

WASHINGTON, Sept 26 (PTI) India’s reliance on Russian defense equipment and strong defense ties with Moscow is not due to New Delhi’s lack of engagement with the United States to obtain these equipment from the United States, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday.

“One of the changes in our relationship is actually defense cooperation, which may have really emerged in its current form over the past 15 years,” Jashankar told Indian-Americans during an interactive discussion organized by the U.S.-India Friendship Council and Foundation. American. India and Indian Diaspora Studies.

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“Starting in 1965, for the next 40 years, the United States provided almost no defense equipment to India. In fact, this was a period when Indo-Soviet relations became very strong,” he said.

“It’s not because of a lack of attempts on the Indian side. I can vouch for it myself. I have my relatives, my father, my grandfather who work with the Ministry of Defence. So, I know firsthand what the huge effort is all these years, Trying to make America understand that it is in America’s interest to have a strong, unified, independent, prosperous India,” Jashankar said.

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“At the time, they didn’t succeed, and maybe that’s how the world is,” he noted. “The changes that started were actually sparked by the nuclear deal, which removed a very big barrier to moving forward, and then actually took the relationship to a new level that required Indian leadership,” there was no reservation.

“It takes two hands to clap. Not only are all the problems on the US side, but also on the Indian side,” he said.

“So we also have to address the institutional issues on our side. I think today, the relationship is on a very different basis. We have the potential to cooperate in more areas, especially in security. Some of our main exercises are with the U.S. Military. We fly many American aircraft today, C 17s,” the secretary said.

He is very bullish on the future of India-U.S. relations, saying: “I think there is indeed a deep integration that will last for many, many years.”

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from the Syndicated News feed, the body of the content may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)