US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Wednesday India is an essential partner of the United States as both the countries share the vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific. New Delhi's stand on Russia because of their historic defence relationship does not come in the way as the US is a partner of choice for India. The comment follows US president Joe Biden's recent remark that only the response of India, among the Quad countries, has been "somewhat shaky" against Russia.
On being asked how Quad partners are seeing India's stand on Russia, Price said, "It's a question of history versus where we are now... India has, of course, had a historic defence and security relationship with Russia over time. That relationship came of age and came together at a time when theUS or some of our partners weren't prepared to have that kind of relationship with India. That was a very different time, different considerations. But those times have changed in terms of our willingness and ability to become a strong defence partner of India. This is a bilateral relationship that has deepened over the past 25 years or so."
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