WASHINGTON: There is no tangible evidence of India deepening its military and technology relationship with Russia, US national security advisor Jake Sullivan has said, asserting that Moscow, which has become a “junior partner” to China, is not necessarily going to be a “great and reliable friend” to India in a future contingency.
Sullivan also said the US has had constructive and effective dialogue with India on the Pannun murder-for-hire plot and that it will continue to “work through” until the US sees an outcome that it thinks is satisfactory.
Sullivan made remarks at Aspen Security Forum in Colorado while responding to questions about the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Russia for bilateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I think the biggest question is: Do we see tangible evidence that India is deepening its military and technology relationship with Russia? And I did not see tangible evidence out of that visit that it was deepening; I didn’t see deliverables in that space,” Sullivan said.
How concerned were you when PM Modi met Russian President Putin, essentially at the same time that US President Joe Biden was hosting the NATO leaders in Washington, he was asked.
“Don’t you think the bear hug was significant then?” he was asked. “Well, Modi has a certain way of greeting world leaders. I’ve seen it up close and personal,” Sullivan said.
The Biden administration, he said, never wants to see countries that the US cares about, who are its partners and friends, show up in Moscow and hug Putin.
“But in terms of our relationship with India, we see enormous opportunities in technology, in economics, and in the statecraft and geopolitics of the wider Indo-Pacific region. And we want to deepen that relationship as equals, as two sovereign countries who also have relationships with other countries. And India has a historic relationship with Russia that they’re not going to cut off,” Sullivan said.
“But we do believe that we want to continue to have a deep dialogue with India about specifics and nature of that relationship and whether it evolves, because Russia is getting closer to China, and as the junior partner to China, is not necessarily going to be a great and reliable friend to India in a future contingency or crisis,” he said.
“That’s not something India needs to hear from Jake Sullivan, but it is a fact in the world. And it’s something that we take into account as we have our strategic dialogue with India,” said the US ational Security Advisor, who was in New Delhi last month and met Prime Minister Modi and his counterpart Ajit Doval.
Sullivan also said the US has had constructive and effective dialogue with India on the Pannun murder-for-hire plot and that it will continue to “work through” until the US sees an outcome that it thinks is satisfactory.
Sullivan made remarks at Aspen Security Forum in Colorado while responding to questions about the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Russia for bilateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I think the biggest question is: Do we see tangible evidence that India is deepening its military and technology relationship with Russia? And I did not see tangible evidence out of that visit that it was deepening; I didn’t see deliverables in that space,” Sullivan said.
How concerned were you when PM Modi met Russian President Putin, essentially at the same time that US President Joe Biden was hosting the NATO leaders in Washington, he was asked.
“Don’t you think the bear hug was significant then?” he was asked. “Well, Modi has a certain way of greeting world leaders. I’ve seen it up close and personal,” Sullivan said.
The Biden administration, he said, never wants to see countries that the US cares about, who are its partners and friends, show up in Moscow and hug Putin.
“But in terms of our relationship with India, we see enormous opportunities in technology, in economics, and in the statecraft and geopolitics of the wider Indo-Pacific region. And we want to deepen that relationship as equals, as two sovereign countries who also have relationships with other countries. And India has a historic relationship with Russia that they’re not going to cut off,” Sullivan said.
“But we do believe that we want to continue to have a deep dialogue with India about specifics and nature of that relationship and whether it evolves, because Russia is getting closer to China, and as the junior partner to China, is not necessarily going to be a great and reliable friend to India in a future contingency or crisis,” he said.
“That’s not something India needs to hear from Jake Sullivan, but it is a fact in the world. And it’s something that we take into account as we have our strategic dialogue with India,” said the US ational Security Advisor, who was in New Delhi last month and met Prime Minister Modi and his counterpart Ajit Doval.