The United States discourages India to rely on Russia for its defence needs, the Pentagon Secretary John Kirby said on Friday.
“We’ve been very clear with India as well as other nations that we don’t want to see them rely on Russia for defence needs. We’ve been nothing but honest about that and discouraging that,” Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told reporters at a news conference in Washington.
“At the same time, we also value the defence partnership that we have with India. And as was evidenced a week ago, we’re looking at ways to improve that going forward. That’s going to continue because it matters and it’s important,” he said.
“India is a provider of security in the region and we value that,” Mr Kirby said.
In October 2018, India signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 Triumf air defence missile systems to ramp up its air defence, despite a warning from the US administration.
It is also mentioned that the US has already imposed sanctions on Turkey under the US State Department Counsellor Derek Chollet (CAATSA) for the purchase of a defence system from Russia.