India needs Russia's help to defend borders, says Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told Bloomberg in an interview that India wants to be strong friends with the liberal world, but it needs Russia's help to defend its borders.

India has most of its military hardware from Russia and has rejected appeals from Western nations to limit bilateral relations with Moscow in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been criticised by Western allies for not condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin over the devastating conflict in Ukraine.

Sitharaman said India, which has long-standing border disputes with neighbouring Pakistan and China and has gone to war with both, was focused on protecting its own regional interests.

Sitharaman told Bloomberg: You have a neighbour who joins hands with another neighbour, both of whom are against me. In the context of the Russia-Ukraine war, God forbid, India has to be strong enough to protect itself against the Russian-Ukraine war.

She said India wants to be friends with the European Union and the Western, Free, Liberal world, but not as a weak friend that needs desperate help here and there. Sitharaman made remarks on Friday in the United States, where she attended the annual spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

The United States has always tried to balance relations between the arch regional rivals India and Pakistan, but has also improved strategic ties with New Delhi in recent years to counter China.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was in India this week to ramp up security and trade relations, said it was unlikely that India would end its long-standing ties with Russia.