India wants to be friends with the West, but needs Russia: Sitharaman

"India wants to be friends with the European Union and the Western, free, liberal world, but not as a weak friend that needs desperate help here and there," Sitharaman said

India wants to be strong friends with the “liberal world” but it needs Russia’s assistance to defend its borders, a top minister said, following criticism about refusal to outright condemn Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.

India is the world’s top buyer of Russian weapons, which it uses to deter aggression from neighbors Pakistan and China -- two countries that have long cooperated on defense. While the U.S. had traditionally sought to balance ties between India and Pakistan, which for years was an important partner in Afghanistan, more recently it has courted New Delhi to counter China.

“You have a neighbor,