WASHINGTON: The United States has called on India to distance itself from Russia.
Assistant US secretary of state for South Asian affairs, Donald Lu told US senate subcommittee New US sanctions on Russian banks will make it harder for countries to buy major defense equipment from Moscow.
A US diplomat said, though no decision has been reached on Washington granting a waiver to New Delhi to take delivery of Russian surface-to-air missiles under an earlier contract.
He said it is going to be very hard for any country in the globe to buy major weapon systems from Russia because of the sweeping sanctions now placed on Russian banks.
