India wants to be strong friends with the “liberal world” but it needs Russia’s assistance to defend its borders, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told Bloomberg in an interview in Washington.
India procures most of its military hardware from Russia and in recent weeks has rejected appeals from Western nations to limit bilateral relations with Moscow in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has faced criticism from Western allies with regard to its refusal to outright condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin over the devastating conflict in Ukraine. “India wants to be friends with the European Union and the Western, free, liberal world,” she added, “but not as a weak friend that needs desperate help here and there.” Sitharaman made the remarks on Friday in the United States where she attended the annual spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
