India must not be weakened if US wants friendship, says Nirmala

Washington, April 23

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said India was taking a “calibrated position” on matters like Russia given the geographical locational realities, emphasising that if the US wanted a friend in India, it should understand that the friend should not be weakened.

Sitharaman was here to attend the annual spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Interacting with a group of Indian reporters here, she said the bilateral relationship between India and the US had moved forward and deepened and saw more and more windows of opportunities opening post the Ukrainian war. During her visit, she also held a host of bilateral meetings and participated in many multilateral meetings. She interacted with several top officials of the Biden administration.

“There is an understanding that India’s relationship with the United States has actually moved forward. It’s gotten deeper. There is no one questioning that,” she told reporters in response to a question on the bilateral relationship. “But there is also an understanding, not just the legacy dependence for defence equipment on Russia…that India has legacy issues as much as relationships over several decades. And if anything, I can say with a bit of a confidence there is a positive understanding. It is not a negative understanding,” she said. “I see more and more windows of opportunities opening, rather than (US) keeping an arm’s distance saying you’ve calibrated your position on Russia doesn’t seem like you are getting closer to us. No,” she said during an interaction with a group of Indian reporters in Washington DC at the conclusion of her trip.

Sitharaman explained the developments in the Indo-Pacific region and the recently concluded 2 2 ministerial dialogue, which was topped off by a virtual meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden. —