India carrying out detailed assessment of security interests in wake of Ukraine-Russia crisis
Feb 24, 2022
New Delhi [India], February 24 : India will carry out a detailed assessment of its security interests before taking a considered stand on the Russia-Ukraine crisis as both sides are close allies of the country both militarily and diplomatically, sources said.
India has called for a peaceful resolution of the situation. Russia has started operations after Moscow on Monday recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities.
According to sources, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval have been closely monitoring the situation and reviews were done with the top security brass to assess the situation and options for India in the crisis.
Sources further said officials concerned have been asked to refrain from publicly commenting on the crisis directly or indirectly.
For India, all the parties engaged in the conflict are close partners and the country has both strong military and diplomatic ties with them, sources said.
India has been a traditional recipient of the Russian military hardware while in the last few years, it has been buying a large amount of American weaponry too, they said.
Ukraine is also a source of a lot of military equipment and spares including the equipment for the Antonov-32 aircraft.
Till a few years ago, India was relying solely on Russia for its military requirements and over 70 per cent of its hardware was of Russian origin. However, with an aim of avoiding putting all eggs in one basket, India started buying American equipment too with over USD 20 billion procurements done in the last 15 years.
