Underlining India’s “freedom of choice” in its relationships, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s two-day visit won’t complicate India’s ties with the United States. Defining India’s ties with Russia as “among the steadiest big relationships” in the world, he said Putin’s visit was about “re-imagining” the ties with a focus on economic engagement.

Emphasising “strategic autonomy”, Jaishankar, during an interactive session at the HT Leadership Summit in New Delhi , said, “Everybody knows that India has relations with all the major countries of the world. And for any country to expect to have a veto on how we develop our relationships with others, is not fair.” He was responding to a question on Putin’s visit amid trade tensions with

See Full Page