New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar disputed claims that India is overly dependent on Russia for military equipment, adding that the bilateral relationship with Moscow should not be viewed as a “handicap”.
“We have a relationship with Russia. It’s not a relationship that happened in one instant, one day, one month, one year. It is an accumulated relationship of close to 60 years. The direction of world politics during those 50-60 years actually helped forge that relationship,” he said Monday at the Global Technology Summit in New Delhi, co-hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
“Often, I see this defined in a way as though there’s some handicap that India has by having this relationship. This relationship has saved us many times.”
Russia remains India’s top arms supplier and amid the Ukraine war, it has emerged as New Delhi’s top import destination for crude oil.
Explaining New Delhi’s relationship with Russia as well as the US and Europe, he said India now has a large “portfolio” of international relationships and is tasked with finding the balance.
“As you have more options, it’s natural for a country to make the best of it,” he said.
The foreign minister talked about India having multiple partners on the world stage today and having the skills to play them off while maintaining a level of “trust and confidence” with each one of them.
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‘Look at India’s trade figures’
Asked about partnering with like-minded countries in the field of technology, Jaishankar cited the Quad — a grouping of India, the US, Japan and Australia — and the EU-India Trade and Technology Council as examples of helpful initiatives.
“When it comes to technology, our natural partners are Western economies. Which is why Quad and the TTC with the EU have been helpful. These are our tech partners, markets and investors. These are places where (Indian mobility) and skill development stand to benefit,” he added.
Asked if India risks being overdependent on these countries, the minister made an indirect reference to New Delhi’s booming trade deficit with China.
“Look at India’s trade figures and tell me where are we overdependent? I can tell you where we are overdependent. The accounts where we have enormous trade deficits and where often we are dependent on for very basic goods,” he said.
India’s trade deficit with China had in July, crossed the $100 billion mark for the first time. This, despite icy relations between the two neighbours, which remain engaged in a border standoff.
Noting how technology has become central to the Modi government’s approach to public policy, governance and national security, Jaishankar also batted for a strong manufacturing sector in India.
But he offered a caveat. Despite the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, skilling programmes, expansion of technical training and an ease of doing business approach which are relatively “new” initiatives, India has more to do in becoming a “credible” manufacturing location, he said.
“Between the 1990s till COVID-19 pandemic, for a very wide variety of goods, technologies and even services, we had all become dependent on a single geography. It took COVI-19 to wake up the world.”
Jaishankar added that anxieties felt by many countries on this issue put focus on the need for dispersed production and diversified supply chains, especially in sensitive areas like semiconductors.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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