October 10, 2022
1 min read

West didn’t supply weapons for decades: Jaishankar defends Russian imports

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…reports Asian Lite News

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.

ALSO READ: Mr Biden, you are President of the US, not of Europe

Previous Story

Malaysian PM dissolves Parliament

Next Story

‘Trump willing to return classified material’

Latest from -Top News

KCF Festival Unites Karnataka Talent in UAE 

Enthusiastic participants displayed Karnataka’s cultural legacy through various artistic performances, making the event a grand celebration of talent.   The 6th edition of the KCF UAE National Level Talent Festival, Prathibhotsava 25, was

Jaishankar, Greek FM Discuss Boosting India-Greece Ties

EAM Jaishankar stressed that the India-Middle East Economic Corridor (IMEC) and the India-Mediterranean Connect would be the major focus of the next phase of India-Greece relations…reports Asian Lite News External Affairs Minister
Go toTop

Don't Miss

US renews call for democracy in Myanmar

Myanmar is in turmoil since the coup on February 1,

Protest in Washington D.C. for recognition of 1971 genocide

Demonstrators carried placards and raised slogans demanding US Congress should