United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday, 28 April, said that India developed relations with Russia decades ago out of necessity, as the US was not in a position to build a partnership with Delhi at the time.
"In the case of India, there is a relationship that goes back decades. And Russia, for India, was out of necessity a partner of choice when we were not in a position to be a partner," Blinken was quoted as saying at a Congressional hearing by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations.
"Now, we are investing in that effort. I think there is a growing strategic convergence between the United States and India," Blinken added, stating that China was a big aspect facilitating the partnership, reported news agency PTI.
The top US official further stated that the India-US relationship had the potential to be "one of the most important and foundational partnerships that we have going forward over the next decades."
He noted that President Joe Biden had spent a lot of time directly engaging with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the energisation of the Quad has also helped strengthen ties with India.
Earlier this month, a 2+2 dialogue was held between India and the US, for which Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and Dr S Jaishankar had visited Washington DC to attend talks with Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Prime Minister Modi and President Biden also held a virtual summit on 11 April, in which India-United States relations and the war in Ukraine were deliberated upon. The two leaders are also slated to attend a Quad summit in Japan next month.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)