The country’s relationship with Washington is based on mutual interests, the Indian Foreign Ministry has said
The India-US relationship has “weathered many transitions and challenges” in the past and is based on mutual respect, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday.
The comments come in response to the US imposing 25% tariffs on imports from India and Donald Trump’s threatening to add penalties over and above those due to New Delhi’s trade and defense ties with Moscow.
“India and the US share a comprehensive global strategic partnership anchored in shared interests, democratic values, robust people-to-people ties,” Jaiswal said.
He also spoke of the potential for the defense partnership with Washington. “We have strong defense ties with the US which have been strengthening over the last several years,” he said.
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A day after Trump said India and Russia “could take their dead economies down together,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil “a point of irritation.”
In a response to these comments at the Friday press briefing, Jaiswal said bilateral relationships between two countries should not be viewed in the context of a third nation.
“Our ties with any country are based on their own merit and should not be judged through the lens of our relationship with another country,” he said.
Jaiswal also highlighted that India and Russia enjoy a long-standing and robust partnership.
The spokesman said India’s decisions on defense purchases are driven solely by national security needs and strategic considerations, adding that the country’s energy sourcing is guided by market availability and global circumstances.
