Russia will deepen military ties with India, didn't discuss statements from US: FM Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who is on a two-day visit to India, on April 6 said that Delhi and Moscow have decided to strengthen ties on the military front. Lavrov said that he along with EAM S Jaishnakar “didn’t discuss” statements from the United States. “Instead, we confirmed that we are going to deepen our military cooperation,” he added. Lavrov also went on to say that both nations have a governmental committee on military-technical cooperations that has its own plans. 

“We didn't discuss statements from USA. Instead, we confirmed that we are going to deepen our military cooperation. We have a governmental committee on military-technical cooperations that has its own plans," the Russian Foreign Minister said. 

It is worth mentioning that during his first visit to India, US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin reportedly raised the issue of the purchase of S-400 air defence systems from Russia. Austin indicated that the purchase of S-400s will run the risk of sanctions similar to those imposed on Turkey. The former Donald Trump administration had also denied India a waiver from a 2017 US law aimed at deterring nations from buying Russian military hardware.

And now the same stance is expected to continue under US President Joe Biden. However, India has affirmed its right to choose its defence supplies. The nation has also said that it needs long-range surface-to-air missiles to counter the threat from China.

Russia rules out military alliance with China 

Further, during the press briefing, the Russian minister ruled out any military alliance with China and said that Moscow is interested in inclusive cooperation. According to ANI, Lavrov said that Russia deems military alliance as “counterproductive”, however, he also went on to note that he has heard about a pro-military alliance being promoted in the Middle East and Asia. It is worth mentioning that the Russian minister’s statement is considered to be significant as it comes amid India and China’s military standoff for nearly a year in East Ladakh. 

Lavrov said, “No, we have fixed that in our bilateral relations adopted at the highest level in the course of the Russia and China Summit where we said that our relations are highest in the history but these relations do not pursue the goal of establishing a military alliance”. 

He added, “By the way, we have heard speculation about pro-military alliance not only regarding Russia and China relations but we also heard about such alliance allegedly being promoted Middle East-NATO, we also heard about Asian-NATO”. 

Russia respects India’s interest in military tech

Further, agreeing with India’s position on the issue of the military alliance, the Russian minister said that India has the “same position as us”. He added, “We believe that this (military alliance) is counterproductive and we are interested in inclusive cooperation that is for something and not against something”. Lavrov did not comment on India buying additional regiments of the S-400 air defence system, but he said that on defence technology, Russia respects India diversified interest in military technology. 

“We also discussed perspective and additional manufacturing of Russian military equipment in India within the concept 'Made in India'. So here, I didn't see any changes from our Indian partners and friends,” Lavrov said. 

(With inputs from ANI)