Reorienting India away from Russia long-term challenge, says US as Doval meets Patrushev

Tribune News Service

Sandeep Dixit

New Delhi, August 18

Even as National Security Adviser Ajit Doval held confabulations with his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev to advance bilateral ties, the US today said it recognised that there were countries around the world that had long-standing ties with nations like Russia.

“Reorienting a country’s foreign policy or a country’s security establishment or defence procurement practices away from a country like Russia is not something that we can do overnight. It’s not something that we can do over the course of weeks or even months. We do see this as a long-term challenge,’’ said US State Department spokesperson Ned Price. On the other hand, Moscow said Doval and its Deputy PM Denis Manturov also met to use the mechanism of the Inter-governmental Commission to the maximum degree to “strengthen bilateral collaboration across the board.’’ This is Doval's first visit to Russia since the Ukraine conflict and it comes ahead of the Vostok (East) 2022 exercises to be held in Russia from August 30 to September 5 in which India, China, Belarus, Tajikistan, Mongolia and other countries will participate.

Asked if India’s participation in the Vostok military exercises represented the failure of the US approach to isolate Russia, the US State Department said the US did not ask countries to choose between the US and any other country.

Range of issues

A wide range of issues on bilateral cooperation in the area of security as well as topical problems on the regional and international agenda were discussed. — Russia on Doval -Patrushev meet

About The Author

Tribune News Service

The Tribune News Service brings you the latest news, analysis and insights from the region, India and around the world. Follow the Tribune News Service for a wide-ranging coverage of events as they unfold, with perspective and clarity.

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.