India ‘great example’ of countries US discussing arms purchases to wean it away from Russia

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India is a “great example” of countries with which the United States is discussing arms purchases so as to wean them away from Russia, according to Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder, with India facing a dilemma with continuing arms purchases from Russia because of its weaponry’s performance in the Ukraine war.

The US understood that some countries that bought Russian or Soviet-era weapons want to maintain some type of relationship with Moscow, Ryder said on Tuesday, January 17, 2023, at a briefing in Washington.

But, he said, “from a security cooperation standpoint, certainly from the US perspective, I think that the types of security assistance the United States provide to include capabilities is much more dependable and also maintained”.

“We continue to discuss with various partners and allies around the world on would they — should they — choose to purchase those kinds of systems, we’re certainly all ears, India being a great example”, he added.

Defense cooperation is “a sovereign decision for individual countries to make”, he added.

India has been diversifying its defense sourcing and purchases from the US have increased ten-fold between 2016 and 2021, according to the Stockholm Peace Research Institute.

According to the institute in the five-year period ending 2021, India’s imports of arms from Russia dropped by 47 per cent compared to the previous five-year period.