The White House said Tuesday that the US is worried about India’s plans to take part in military exercises with Russia, which has been fighting an unprovoked and brutal war against Ukraine.
The White House made this statement in response to a question about “Vostok 2022,” a multinational military exercise that will take place in Russia from September 1 to 7. India and China will be among the countries taking part.
Moscow said last month that the exercises would happen, and China, Belarus, Tajikistan, and Mongolia will also take part.
This will be the first big military exercise with a lot of different countries in Russia since it started its offensive in Ukraine.
TASS, the Russian news agency, says that Valery Gerasimov, the head of Russia’s General Staff, will be in charge of the Vostok-2022 strategic command and staff exercise. It will take place at 13 training grounds in the Eastern Military District.
The exercises will probably go on until September 5.
“The US is worried about any country that works with Russia while Russia is fighting a brutal war against Ukraine for no reason. But, of course, each country that takes part will make its own choices. And that’s all I have to say, “Karen Jean-Pierre, who works for the White House, told reporters on Air Force One.
When asked why she didn’t “put any pressure on India,” Jean-Pierre said, “In the first sentence, I say that we worry about any country that exercises with Russia while Russia is fighting this unprovoked war.”
When the reporter asked if the US was going to do anything about it, the press secretary said, “I don’t have anything else to share.”
“But we’ve been pretty public about it,” she said. “I’ve been asked this question by other countries, and we’ve been pretty consistent in what we’ve said.”
India-Russia ties
The Russian Defense Ministry had said before the drills that the forces taking part would practise ways to keep military security in the east.
In October 2018, India and Russia signed a deal for five squadrons of S-400s worth USD 5.43 billion.
In June, on the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Russia and India, the Russian Ambassador to India, Denis Alipov, said that work on the S-400 Triumf air defence missile system is going well and on time.
Experts in Washington say that India is still an important part of US strategy.
They also said that security ties between India and the US have grown quickly over the last 15 years.
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