Washington: It is the United States, and not Russia, which is and will be India’s “reliable” partner post the war in Ukraine, the Biden Administration pitched on Thursday, asserting that it is ready to go the extra mile to meet New Delhi’s defence and national security needs.
“I think there are real doubts about Russia’s ability to be a reliable partner for the foreseeable future,” US State Department Counsellor Derek Chollet told PTI in an interview.
Of the rank of Under Secretary of State and a senior policy advisor to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Chollet said the Biden administration is very much eager to work with India as it diversifies its defence capabilities and defence suppliers.
“We very much want to be part of that. We’re doing much more than we’ve ever done in the history of our relationship together in terms of defence. And so, as India’s seeking to acquire new capabilities, the United States very much wants to be a partner with India in that effort,” he said.
Chollet argued that the military equipment being supplied by Russia has shown it is lacking in capability. “The difficulty of doing business with Russia is only going to grow over time. It’s become much harder given all the sanctions placed on Russia in the last 12 weeks,” he said.
However, Chollet evaded a direct answer to the question on the US deploying its Seventh Fleet to the Bay of Bengal in December 1971 during the India-Pakistan War, which many in India say is a symbol of the US also not being a reliable partner when needed.
“The US has shown throughout the course of this conflict, something we believe deeply, that we are a very reliable partner,” he said.
Chollet asserted that the India-US relationship has not been impacted by the Ukrainian war.
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has not impacted the relationship between the US and India. The US-India relationship is deep, it’s strong,” he said, adding that it has bipartisan support in Washington.
“Obviously, we have talked with our Indian friends about everything from votes in the UN to the defence relationship with Russia. It was a topic of conversation at 2+2 (ministerial meeting) recently, but we fully understand the position that India is in given its long-standing defence relationship with Russia,” he said.
The US-India defence relationship is in a much different and more positive place than it was even 10 years ago.
Chollet said that the Biden administration as of now, has not taken any decision on CAATSA sanctions now that India has started receiving S-400 missile equipments from Russia.
“In many ways, when it comes to the US-India relationship, our governments are having to catch up to where our people are and our societies are,” he said.