Russia not reliable for energy or security, US warns India

Washington, Nov 09: The United States State Department on Tuesday asked India to reduce its dependence on Russia and said that Russia is not a reliable source of energy or security assistance.

US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said, "Russia isn't a reliable source of energy and security assistance. It's not only in the interest of Ukraine or of the region, India decrease its dependence on Russia over time, but it's also in India's own bilateral interest, given what we've seen from Russia."

The US State Department spokesperson also said that the US is committed to helping India in its transition away from Russia.

"When it comes to Russia's - India's relationship with Russia, we've consistently made the point that it's a relationship that developed and was cemented over the course of decades, really came to be during the Cold War at a time when the United States was not in a position to be an economic partner, a security partner, a military partner to India," he said.

However, Price said that US and India's relations have changed in the past 25 years.

"That has changed. That's changed over the past 25 or so years. It's really a legacy - a bipartisan legacy - that this country has achieved over the course of the past quarter century. President George W Bush's administration was really the first to put this into effect," said Price.

Price also added, "We have sought to deepen our partnership with India in every sector, including when it comes to economics, including when it comes to our security ties, and our military cooperation as well."

The response of the US came a day after India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Russia reiterated during the press conference that "buying Russian oil is to India's advantage and India will continue doing that."

Jaishankar is on his first 2-day visit to Russia since the war started between Russia and Ukraine in February this year. Jaishankar made several statements on Tuesday after meeting his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

Talking about India-Russia relations, the EAM said, "India and Russia have an "exceptionally" steady and time-tested relationship and the objective now is to fashion a balanced, mutually beneficial and long-term engagement in the backdrop of the increasing economic cooperation."

Notably, India has been buying oil from sanctions-hit Moscow amid the Ukraine conflict that started earlier this year. The western countries led by the US imposed sanctions on Russian oil following the war that erupted in February this year.

With inputs from ANI