`West preferred military dictatorship…` Jaishankar takes jibe at Pakistan

Taking an indirect dig at Pakistan, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on October 10 said that Western countries preferred a military dictatorship next to India as a preferred partner. Foreign Minister Jaishankar also defended India’s Russian arms purchase. “We have a long-standing relationship with Russia, and this relationship has served our interests well. We have a substantial inventory of Soviet & Russian-origin weapons. This inventory grew for various reasons including the West not supplying weapons to India for decades & in fact seeing the military dictatorship next to us as a preferred partner. In International politics, we make judgments which are reflective of our future interests and current situation,” said Jaishankar.