“U.S. and India enjoy a good partnership. We look forward to continuing to develop and foster our relationship with the Indian military,” Ryder said during a Pentagon press briefing on the anniversary of Russia‘s Ukraine invasion.
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India procured military hardware worth Rs 1.93 lakh crore (almost $24 billion) from abroad in the last five years, which included helicopters, aircraft radars, rockets, guns, assault rifles, missiles and ammunition from countries like US, Russia, France, Israel and Spain, among others.
Ryder during the briefing said: “This solemn anniversary is an opportunity for all who believe in freedom, rules, and sovereignty to recommit ourselves to supporting Ukraine’s brave defenders for the long haul, and recall that the stakes of Russia’s war stretch far beyond Ukraine.”
“Alongside our international allies and partners, we remain committed to supporting the Ukrainian people with the security assistance they need to defend their nation and take back their sovereign territory, and we will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” the Pentagon Press Secretary said, according to the US Department of Defence.
“In another demonstration of our enduring commitment, earlier today, the Department of Defense announced USD 2 billion in additional security assistance for Ukraine under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative,” he added.
US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu on Friday expressed the US viewpoint on India’s stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The top US diplomat for the region emphasized that the US doesn’t think India is going to end relations with Russia anytime soon and hopes India will use its influence with Russia to end the Ukraine conflict.
The top US official made these comments while briefing reporters on US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s upcoming travel to India, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. In response to a question on the three countries being among the 32 nations that abstained from voting on Russia-Ukraine in Thursday’s UN General Assembly, Lu responded, “It’s clear to us that the countries of Central Asia and India have had long, complex relations with Russia”.
“I don’t think they’re going to end those relations anytime soon, but we are talking to them about the role they can play in this conflict,” Lu added.