US heartened by PM Modi’s ’not an era of war’ remark to Vladimir Putin
A senior Pentagon official acknowledged that the US is heartened by the recent remarks made by PM Narendra Modi to Russian President Vladimir Putin that today's era is 'not an era of war'
The United States is "heartened" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent comments to Russian President Vladimir Putin that now is not an era of war, a senior Pentagon official was quoted as saying. Meeting on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Uzbekistan's Samarkand, PM Modi had told Vladimir Putin that “Today's era is not an era of war, and I have spoken to you on the phone about this."
For his part, Vladimir Putin assured PM Modi that he was aware of India's worries on the crisis in Ukraine and that Russia will use all available means to put a stop to it as soon as possible.
The US has said that it is heartened by the comments made by PM Narendra Modi.
Dr. Ely Ratner, Assistant Secretary of Defence for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, said to a gathering of reporters and think-tank experts during a virtual round table on Thursday, “We were heartened by Prime Minister Modi's comments last weekend.”
Recently, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan appreciating the statement by PM Modi told reporters at a White House news conference that what the prime minister said was "a statement of principle on behalf of what he believes is right and just (and) it was very much welcomed by the US."
Ratner stated that the US shares India’s commitment to seeing a swift and peaceful resolution of the conflict and continues to engage regularly on this issue.
Ratner affirmed India's concern regarding taking a stand on the crisis, he said, “We obviously recognise that India has a long and complicated history in terms of its security partnership with Russia and has been in the process over the last many years of diversifying its arms and imports as well as prioritising its own indigenous development, and we want to support them.”
The senior Pentagon official asserted, “We want to support India on both fronts and are doing so. We think the trend lines are heading in the right direction. We are deeply engaged in conversations on exploring opportunities for co-development and co-production. We are also looking for ways to support India's own indigenisation which we know is a huge priority for Prime Minister Modi and in the military there.”
Responding to another question on Defence Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI), he said that the US is taking a hard look at the co-development and coproduction plans with India.
“We are taking a hard look now at DTTI more broadly and actively discussing with the Indian government how we can adapt the initiative to meet the scope and ambition of our defence partnership. This is an area where we see a lot of great promise. Our leaders are fairly focused on this and again the Two Plus Two ministerial next spring is hoping to have some progress to announce on this front,” he said.
(With inputs from PYI)
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First Published:23 Sep 2022, 03:38 PM IST
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