MEA S Jaishankar Slams West Over Close Ties With Russia, says For Two Decades West Didn’t Supply Us Weapons’

India's stockpile of Russian-made weapons has grown over decades due to a lack of supply from Western nations, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday in Canberra, Australia. His remarks come as the West presses Russia on its offensive in Ukraine. After the Ukraine war began in February, a global debate erupted over the country's reliance on Moscow for fuel and weapons, and questions remain unanswered with no end in sight.

"As you are aware, we have a sizable stockpile of Russian and Soviet-made weapons. And for a variety of reasons, that inventory grew. "Not only for the merits of the weapons, but also because Western countries did not supply weapons to India for decades," S Jaishankar can be quoted saying in a video shared by news agency ANI.

"I think we all deal with what we have in international politics." "We make decisions that reflect both our future interests and our current situation," he added.

There have recently been calls for a waiver of sanctions under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) in light of New Delhi's purchase of S-400 air defence systems from Moscow.

Meanwhile, Jaishankar's remarks come just days after he stated that the US was not "fooling anyone" when it stated that the support for Pakistan Air Force's F-16s was for counterterrorism purposes.

During his visit to the United States, he stated that the ties between Islamabad and Washington DC were not new, saying, "Very honestly, it is a partnership that has ended up benefiting neither Pakistan nor American objectives well." It is really up to the US to consider what the benefits of the relationship are and what they gain by keeping it going."

Previously, Jaishankar received praise for defending India's purchase of Russian oil.