US Talks On Indo-Russian Bond, Working "Very Closely" With India

Price talks on multilateral joint military exercises of Russia, India, China...

Commenting on the Indo-Russian bonds, the United States said: it is going to be a long-term proposition for India - which has a decades-old relationship with Moscow - to reorient its foreign policy away from Russia.

It said it was working "very closely" with India through the Quad and other forums.

In a media report, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters, "It is not for me to speak about another country's foreign policy. But what I can do is point out what we have heard from India. We have seen countries around the world speak clearly, including with their votes in the UN General Assembly against Russia's aggression in Ukraine. But we also recognise, as I was saying just a moment ago, that this is not flipping a light switch."

While responding to the questions, the spokesperson said, "This is something that, especially for countries that have historical relationships with Russia. Relationships that, as is the case with India, extend back decades, it is going to be a long-term proposition to re-orient foreign policy away from Russia."

The United States, he said, has worked very closely with India bilaterally and through the Quad "to signal, and the Indians have done so very clearly what should be the inviolable principle of state sovereignty".

Mr. Price was responding to a series of questions on a multilateral joint military exercise that involves Russia and China and several other countries, including India.

"Countries routinely make their own sovereign decisions. It is their right to do so regarding what, if any, military exercises to take part in. I'll also note that most of the participating countries routinely participate in a wide array of military exercises and exchanges with the United States as well," he said.

"So, we don't read anything into their engagements in this activity. Now, the broader point is that we have seen a burgeoning relationship including in the security realm between the PRC and Russia. We've seen a burgeoning relationship between Russia and Iran for example, and we have made public elements of that," he said.