Putin’s Visit Won’t Complicate India-US Ties: EAM Jaishankar

India

oi-Ashish Rana

India’s
External
Affairs
Minister
S
Jaishankar
has
said
that
Russian
President
Vladimir
Putin’s
recent
two
day
visit
to
New
Delhi
was
focused
on
reshaping
the
long
standing
partnership
between
the
two
countries.

Addressing
the
Hindustan
Times
Leadership
Summit,
he
underlined
that
the
India
Russia
relationship
has
remained
one
of
the
most
stable
among
major
global
partnerships
despite
decades
of
geopolitical
shifts.

Reimagining
the
India-Russia
Partnership

Jaishankar
noted
that
the
relationship
has
endured
through
changing
equations
across
the
world.
He
said,
“The
world
has
seen
a
lot
of
ups
and
downs
in
the
last
70
to
80
years.
I
have
said
this
before,
and
I
will
say
this
again:
the
India
Russia
relationship
has
been
among
the
steadiest
big
relationships
in
the
world.”

He
added
that
other
nations
have
seen
more
turbulence
in
their
ties
with
Moscow,
including
the
United
States,
China
and
countries
in
Europe.
“Russia’s
own
relationship
with
the
United
States,
China,
or
Europe
has
had
its
ups
and
downs.
Our
relationship
with
many
of
these
countries
has
had
it
ups
and
downs
as
well,” he
observed.

Economic
Cooperation
Takes
Center
Stage

According
to
the
minister,
Putin’s
visit
offered
both
nations
an
opportunity
to
strengthen
areas
that
had
not
grown
as
expected,
particularly
on
the
economic
front.
“India
Russia
economic
ties
had
not
kept
pace.
This
visit
was
about
reimagining
that
relationship,
and
building
facets
that
it
lacked,”
he
said.

Jaishankar
stressed
that
expanding
these
dimensions
was
a
priority
and
that
the
discussions
during
the
visit
aimed
at
injecting
new
momentum
into
economic
cooperation.

No
Strain
Expected
in
India
US
Relations

Amid
questions
over
Washington’s
reaction
to
Putin’s
visit,
the
External
Affairs
Minister
made
it
clear
that
the
engagement
with
Russia
is
not
expected
to
complicate
India’s
ties
with
the
United
States.
He
said
there
was
no
reason
for
the
visit
to
be
viewed
as
a
point
of
friction
and
reiterated
that
managing
multiple
key
partnerships
is
an
essential
part
of
India’s
foreign
policy
framework.

Importance
of
Balanced
Diplomacy

Jaishankar
explained
that
India’s
strategic
approach
is
shaped
by
the
need
to
keep
all
major
relationships
stable
and
functional.
“For
a
big
country
like
us,
it
is
very
crucial
that
our
key
relationships
are
all
in
good
repair.
It
is
important
that
we
maintain
good
relationship
with
as
many
players
as
possible.
That
we
have
that
choice.
That
is
foreign
policy
in
a
nutshell,”
he
said.

The
minister
said
that
in
an
evolving
global
order,
India
must
ensure
it
has
the
flexibility
to
work
with
every
major
power
while
advancing
its
own
national
interests.