He said this during a joint conference with his Australian counterpart Penny Wong. Jaishankar said that India and Russia have a long-standing relationship, which has certainly served India’s interests well.
In response to a question, the foreign minister said: “We have a large inventory of Soviet and Russian weapons. This list has grown for several reasons. You know the merits of weapon systems … but Western countries have not supplied India with weapons for many decades and have seen a military dictatorship alongside us as a privileged partner.
Dr. Jaishankar was apparently referring to Pakistan. The US-led Western countries were its closest allies during the Cold War era. Even after 73 years of existence, Pakistan was ruled by army generals for more than half the time.
The foreign minister added that everything we have in international politics, we face it. We make decisions that reflect both our future interests and our current situation. Regarding the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Jaishankar said that, like any military conflict, we learn from it and I am sure my fellow military professionals will study it very thoroughly.
An Australian journalist asked him if India should reduce its dependence on Russian weapons systems and reconsider its links with Ukraine given the situation in Ukraine.
The same question was asked by Jaishankar during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last month. He went on to say that India is exercising an option which he believes is in his own best interest when offered weapons.
Russia has been a major supplier of military weapons to India. The two countries are discussing the type of payment mechanism that could work between them in the wake of Western sanctions against Moscow.