Don’t forget Russia

October 01, 2016 12:46 am | Updated November 01, 2016 10:03 pm IST

Anuradha M. Chenoy’s opinion that “the U.S. will always have a dual approach to India and Pakistan because it needs both” (“To revive an old friendship”, Sept. 29) is relevant. India’s unlimited favouritism and obligations towards the United States should not be at the cost of forgetting an old friendship that began in the Nehruvian era. We forget that most of the wars we fought were won using a Russian element. It is unfortunate that the Modi government seems to be blinkered about the fact that the U.S. is only interested in the business of weapons sales. Its so-called war on terrorism and stand on human rights and freedom are crucial parts of this business.

B. Prabha,Varkala, Kerala

India’s growing closeness to the U.S. has to be understood against the background of an aggressive China. The great leap China has made in the last few decades to acquire economic and military might has upset the equilibrium in the region. India is flanked by two nuclear powers and with little space for manoeuvrability. A strategic relationship with the U.S. finds merit in this context. Russia, though a reliable ally, has many limitations to act as a neutralising power vis-à-vis China with respect to our concerns in the region.

Muhammed Safeer P.K.,Kattakampal, Kerala

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