"A relationship that has certainly served our interests well." S Jaishankar defended India's relationship with Russia, while also calling the West out for supporting Pakistan...👀
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00For multiple decades, Western countries did not supply weapons to India, and in fact saw
00:08a military dictatorship next to us as the preferred partner, a relationship that has
00:26certainly served our interests well.
00:56Is India rethinking its relationship with Russia, given what is going on in Ukraine,
01:21and how are you viewing the performance of Russian weapons systems over there, and does
01:28that give you cause to think that India should reduce its reliance on those weapons systems?
01:40Senator Wong, is India's relationship with Russia holding back the Quad in any way, considering
01:48the Quad is talking about the rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific? Is there some inconsistency
01:55in relation to Russia?
01:57Look, I think the Quad is functioning extremely well. I think that the level of strategic trust
02:08and strategic consistency amongst Quad partners is deep and firm, and as I said, I note Prime
02:26Minister Modi's public comments and we've worked on them.
02:29The Quad is a mechanism which is primarily focused on the Indo-Pacific, and I think that's
02:38an area where the convergence of interests between the Quad partners is particularly strong.
02:43With regard to India and Russia, we have really a long-standing relationship with Russia,
02:53a relationship that has certainly served our interests well. And when you asked about the
03:03military equipment issue, we have, as you know, a substantial inventory of Soviet and Russian
03:12origin weapons, and that inventory actually grew for a variety of reasons. You know,
03:18the merits of the weapon systems themselves, but also because for multiple decades Western
03:27countries did not supply weapons to India, and in fact saw a military dictatorship next to us
03:35as the preferred partner. So, I think we all in international politics deal with what we have.
03:42We make judgments which are reflective of both our future interests as well as our current
03:54situation. And my sense is, in terms of this current conflict, like every military conflict,
04:02there are learnings from it, and I'm sure my very professional colleagues in the military
04:07would be studying it very carefully. How does India's defence dependence
04:11on Russia affecting Australia's relationship with New Delhi, and have you raised it with
04:16your counterpart today? I think that question has just been covered, to be honest with you.