Speaking at a hearing of the US Senate Committee on Budget Allocation on the budget for the State Department in the 2023 fiscal year, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Washington is striving to become a close partner of New Delhi.
Mr. Blinken explained that some countries are reviewing their relations with other countries, especially with Russia, according to RT.
In the case of India, relations with Russia have been established for decades. Russia is a necessary partner for India as we do not have the status of a partner of this country (during the Cold War)" - Foreign Minister Blinken said.
According to Mr. Blinken, the US - India has the potential to turn this partnership into one of the most key US relationships in the coming decades.
Meanwhile, members of the Senate Committee from the Democratic Party criticized the current relationship between New Delhi and Washington and called for tougher policies for the South Asian country.
India buys oil from Russia, they buy the S-400. They voted white (when voting to condemn Russia) at the United Nations, but were also members of the Four Ministries group.
Therefore, somehow, there were conflicting signals given to the world. supplying with words like we are concerned and disappointed is not enough, said Senator Bob Menendez.
Conditions for a friendly relationship
This is not the first time the head of the US diplomatic sector has mentioned his desire to get closer to India to replace Russia. He said so in mid-April after meeting with the Indian Foreign Minister.
Now, we can and want to become such a partner - Indias favorite security partner, Blinken said.
He affirmed that Washington has not yet decided whether to impose sanctions on New Delhi for buying Russia's S-400 anti-aircraft missile system or not.
The US hopes that its allies and partners will not increase energy purchases from Russia, and calls on all countries not to sign new and major arms import agreements with Russia.
In addition to the State Department, the US also expressed its demands to become a potential partner with India through the Department of Defense.
Specifically, US Defense spokesman John Kirby announced on April 22 that New Delhi should abandon joint defense activities with Russia.
We have made it very clear to India and other countries that we do not want them to rely on Russia for defense, Kirby said.
The US appreciates cooperation with India in the military field and will seek to enhance the country's military potential, he said.
Independent policy
India is one of Russia's largest partners in the field of military-technical cooperation. In December 2021, the head of Russia's Federal Agency for Technical and Military Cooperation (FSVTS), Dmitry Shugaev, said that the list of military equipment and weapons supplied to India had exceeded 14 billion USD.
India accounts for a large proportion of our total supply - nearly 25%, Shugaev said in an interview with Russia 24.
The Russian Defense Ministry has announced that since 1991, India has purchased Russian weapons with a total value of about 70 billion USD. Since the end of February, India's state-owned refineries have purchased about 15 million barrels of Russian oil compared to 16 million barrels in the whole year of 2021. In addition, there are reports that Indian state-owned companies will increase purchases of Russian oil.
Experts interviewed by RT believe that the US luan ve relations with India shows that the American people are aware of the increasing influence of this country and are trying to ensure New Delhi is in their political orbit.
Mr. Blinkens statement, in essence, affirms Indias growing role in global politics. Currently, the interest in New Delhi and its position as a country is quite high, said Tatyana Shaumyan, director of the India Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
She said that the Indian community living in the US is quite large with about 3 million people, and this also partly affects the political process in the US.
They accuse India of turning to the Soviet Union, and now Russia. Meanwhile, New Delhi is seeking to pursue an independent policy, and is interested in having its own position in the international arena to develop relations with major partners.
Therefore, India does not intend to follow the leadership of anyone, the expert emphasized, adding that the Russia-India relationship will face challenges in the current situation, but New Delhi will not sacrifice its relations with Moscow to get closer to the US.
Vladimir Bruter, an expert at the International Institute for Political and Humanitarian Studies, told RT that the contradictory arguments of the US leadership, such as considering sanctions against India for buying the S-400, or promising plans for close relations with the country, are a common trick of the Americans, showing that in addition to the carrots, there are also sticks.
