Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has claimed that the US is sympathetic to the decades-old relationship between New Delhi and Moscow, and is confident that India's response to the Ukrainian crisis will not affect its ties with the West.
India's calibrated stance on the Russian operation in Ukraine is predicated on the security challenges in its neighbourhood, the minister added.
"There is recognition that there is a friend, but that friend's geographical location must be understood… India certainly wants to be a friend, but if the US also wants a friend, the friend can't be a weak friend; the friend should not be weakened for any reason," Sitharaman said when speaking with reporters in Washington.
Narendra Modi’s government has not joined the West’s concerted condemnation of the military operation in Ukraine and has abstained on two votes in the UN Security Council.
Sitharaman, who has held defence and commerce portfolios in the past, said that she sensed understanding among the US officials over India's position.
"There is also an understanding - not just the historical dependence on Russia for defence equipment - that India’s relationship goes back over several decades. And if anything, I can say with a bit of a confidence there is a positive understanding, not a negative understanding," the minister highlighted.
The statement come in the wake of calls from Washington that India take a more forceful position against Russia's special military operation in Ukraine and cease or curtail trading relations, especially energy imports.
On Friday, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said that the Biden administration is discouraging India from relying on its largest defence supplier in response to the Ukraine crisis.
"We've been very clear with India as well as other nations that we don't want to see them rely on Russia for defence needs. We've been nothing but honest about that and discouraging that," Kirby told reporters at a news conference in Washington.
On 11 April, India and the US held the 2+2 ministerial talks in Washington DC, between both countries’ defence and foreign ministers to review their relations against the backdrop of the Ukrainian crisis.
India and the US confirmed that they intend to cooperate further in critical and emerging technologies such as advanced communication technology, artificial intelligence, quantum science, STEM, semi-conductors, and biotechnology.