In Australia, Jaishankar is asked about ties with Russia. His blunt response

 External affairs minister S Jaishankar said India’s relationship with Russia dates Western countries for decades “saw a military dictatorship next to us”, Pakistan, as the preferred partner and Western countries did not supply weapons to India. 

NEW DELHI: India has had a longstanding relationship with Russia, including military cooperation, dating back to a time when Western countries didn’t supply weapons to India and saw Pakistan as the “preferred partner”, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Monday.Addressing a news conference with his Australian counterpart Penny Wong in Canberra, Jaishankar declined to state how India will vote on an upcoming resolution at the UN General Assembly on the annexation of Ukrainian territories by Russia but made it clear that New Delhi is against the conflict because it doesn’t serve the interests of anybody.

Jaishankar also indicated that the activities of the Chinese navy in the Indian Ocean raised questions about that country’s intent, behavioural characteristics and transparency. In contrast, he said, the Indian Navy’s activities contribute to safety and security and the force has come to be known as a first responder during natural disasters and other contingencies.

Responding to a question on whether India is rethinking its relationship with Russia in view of the situation in Ukraine and reducing its reliance on Russian weapon systems, Jaishankar said: “We have really a longstanding relationship with Russia, a relationship that has certainly served our interest well.”He added, “We have, as you know, a substantial inventory of Soviet and Russian-origin weapons, and that inventory actually grew for a variety of reasons – you know, the merits of the weapon systems themselves but also because for multiple decades, Western countries did not supply weapons to India and in fact saw a military dictatorship next to us as the preferred partner.”

Though Jaishankar didn’t name the military dictatorship, it was clear that he was referring to Pakistan, which has been ruled by the army for half of its history and has a long-running defence partnership with the US.

Both Jaishankar and Wong indicated the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quad isn’t affected by India’s relations with Russia. Jaishankar said the Quad is a mechanism focused on the Indo‑Pacific, an area where the convergence of interests between the grouping’s partners is strong, while Wong said the Quad is functioning extremely well due to the strategic trust among its partners.Jaishankar declined to go into specifics about how India will vote on a resolution at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday opposing Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian territories but said India has been “very clearly against the conflict in Ukraine”.

He said, “We believe this conflict does not serve the interests of anybody, neither the participants nor indeed of the international community. And as a country of the Global South, we have been seeing first-hand how much it has impacted low-income countries, the challenges that they are facing in terms of fuel and food and fertilisers.”

Wong reiterated Australia’s condemnation of “Russia’s illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine” and said the “sham referenda and the annexations are illegal”. She added, “In relation to India, I would indicate again that we welcomed Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi raising his concerns with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin in September…and as Prime Minister Modi has told Mr Putin, this is not the time for war.”