Washington: Former US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has said that the US needs to show strategic restraint with India regarding relations with Russia. Mattis also said that India does not support Russia’s attack on Ukraine. He said that the defense relations between India and America have become very strong. Mattis said on Wednesday, that ‘we need to show some restraint. They (Indians) are moving in the right direction.” Mattis made the statement on Wednesday at the India-US summit organized by Congressional India Caucus co-chairman Ro Khanna. He said India maintained its strategic independence. and the Government of India does not support the Russian attack on Ukraine.
Mattis said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been very clear about this. He said that “India has to keep strengthening its economy.” Mattis said that India’s proximity to Russia is not bad for America at this time. He said that “the last thing India wants to do…is to bring Russia and China together.” Unlike its allies in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), India has not yet condemned Russia’s attack on Ukraine. and has abstained from voting in UN forums on the Russian invasion. India has been pushing for an immediate end to the violence in Ukraine and resolution of the crisis through diplomacy and dialogue.
Mattis said that India is coming out of the Russian sphere of influence. He said this is not the time to lecture India, but an opportunity to work with it, which has a complex neighbourhood. He said that on the one hand it has a radical and nuclear weapon-possessing neighbor Pakistan and on the other hand, it has a neighbor China which is trying to intimidate it. He called for continuing collaboration between American technology and scientists and removing barriers to their movement.
Read the Latest India News Today on The Eastern Herald.
