India Became Partners With Russia Out Of Necessity As US Was Not In Position: Antony Blinken

US Secretary Antony Blinken has said that New Delhi built its partnership with Moscow out of necessity as Washington was not in a position to do that earlier.

New Delhi: The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday commented on India's relationship with Russia. He said that New Delhi built its partnership with Moscow out of necessity as the US was not in a position to do that earlier.

"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," he told lawmakers on Wednesday, according to a PTI report. 

Asserting that now the relationship between the United States and India is growing,  Blinken said  "Now, we are investing in that effort. I think there is a growing strategic convergence between the United States and India," Blinken said.

Calling China a big part of that effort, Blinken said the Indo-US partnership has the potential to be one of the most important and foundational partnerships. Blinken gave this statement during a Congressional hearing by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations.

 Blinken spoke about the India-US relationship in response to a question from Senator William Hagerty.

"What I see before us is something I'm certain that is very frustrating in the short-term when we have our differences and you deal with that every day," Hagerty said.

"But in the long-term, the strategic partnership that we have with India I think poses the opportunity to do more good in the 21st century," he said.

Blinken also talked about the relationship between the US President and Prime Narendra Modi and said, "Joe Biden has spent "a lot of time directly engaging with Prime Minister Modi and India's leadership".

"We have energised the Quad that brings India together with Australia and Japan and us. This has been a very important vehicle for strengthening our collaboration across a whole variety of fronts with India," he said.

"What's interesting is this is a moment of strategic inflection, by which I mean this. A number of countries are now relooking at some of their relationships and some of their interests, particularly when it comes to their relationship with Russia," added the top American diplomat.