'US is there for India': Ned Price on US’ take on country's relationship with Russia

The Joe Biden administration has once again voiced support for India and stated that the United States is there for the country despite the differences in opinion over the latter's relationship with Russia. Speaking on the US’ take on India's relationship with Russia in view of the ongoing Ukraine war, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price asserted that India's relationship with Kremlin has developed over several decades, adding that Washington was not ready for a partnership then.

Ned Price on Thursday stated that the US has held multiple discussions with Indian partners and reiterated that the country is “there for” India. Price further noted that the US is ready and ‘willing to partner’ with India despite the latter's relationship with Russia.

“We have had a number of discussions with our Indian partners, and the point that we have made is that every country is going to have a different relationship with Moscow,” Ned Price said during his daily news conference. “We have made clear to our Indian partners that we are there for them. We are ready and able, and willing to partner with them. And we've done just that,” he said while noting that India's relationship with Russia developed over several decades.

"It developed over the course of decades at a time when the United States was not prepared or able to be a partner of choice for the Indian government," Price said. "This is not a partnership built in the course of days, weeks, or months,” Price said. "I mentioned before that India's relationship with Russia was built up over the course of many decades, as countries reorient their relationship with Moscow, as we have seen many of them do. This will be a gradual process," he said in response to a query during the press conference. He added that the US administration was looking forward to India’s partnerships in the future.

Russia warns US against 'instigating confrontations' in Asia-Pacific region

it is pertinent to note that US’ reaction to backing India comes only a day after Russia warned Washington against making attempts of proliferating its influence in the Asia- Pacific region by instigating confrontations with China. Russian Ambassador Nikolay Kudashev on Thursday accused the US of furthering its regional hegemony agenda by planting “small geometry” block structures in the Asia-Pacific region. He claimed that the US is attempting to fit its “hidden design” and is trying to establish destabilising alternatives to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN)-centric mechanisms of the Southeast Asian superpower.

Image: AP/ PTI