Two days before Russian President Vladimir Putin embarks on an official visit to India—his first to New Delhi ever since the Ukraine conflict broke out in February 2022—India’s Navy chief Admiral D.K. Tripathi said there is no ‘conflict’ in the Indian military having logistics agreements with both the US and Russian militaries.
The Navy chief’s statement acquires significance in the backdrop of the fact that India and Russia are expected to ink the Reciprocal Exchange of Logistics Agreement (RELOS) during the presidential visit for easier logistics access between the navies of the two countries.
On the other hand, in 2016, India and the US, among a slew of pacts, signed the LEMOA (Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement) to facilitate much easier and simpler access to each other’s naval bases in the form of logistical support, refueling, supplies, and other such services on a reimbursable basis.
On Tuesday, answering a question at the customary annual Indian Navy day press conference in New Delhi, Admiral Tripathi said: “I don’t think there is going to be any conflict, otherwise it wouldn’t have come so far. There is no conflict at all”.
“India takes great pride in our strategic autonomy. It has been articulated at the highest levels of leadership. And we have the capacity to work with everyone and on issue-based convergences… We have shown in the past that we can work with all”.
“I was in Washington DC about 15 days back, and there were no questions being asked about Russia. So, I think people understand the requirements of each country… countries are mature enough to understand that”, he added.
On Tuesday, the Russian parliament ratified the RELOS, paving the way for the inking of the pact.
Admiral Tripathi responded to questions on a range of issues. A revelation about Operation Sindoor was when the chief said that after the first four days of Operation Sindoor, the location of Pakistani naval assets was known to the Indian navy while declaring that the operation was still ongoing.
He further said India will soon commission its third indigenous nuclear-powered and ballistic missile-carrying submarine named ‘Aridaman’. This is India’s third ship submersible ballistic nuclear (SSBN) after INS Arihant and INS Arighat.