New Delhi: India will go by its national interest on S-400 missile defence deal with sanctions-hit Russia, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told his US counterpart Mike Pompeo on Thursday, even as the two sides agreed to work their way through the contentious pact as also other prickly issues, including those related to trade, to take the bilateral ties to new levels.
Holding the first high-level interaction between the two countries after return of the Modi government to power last month, Jaishankar and Pompeo also discussed the issue of energy security in the wake of the situation arising out of US sanctions on buying oil from Iran with the American side assuring New Delhi that it will ensure predictability of energy supply. The two leaders held talks in one-on-one and delegation-level formats followed by working lunch, and resolved to deepen Indo-US cooperation in combating terrorism, including by strengthening intelligence-sharing.
Later at a joint press interaction, Pompeo and Jaishankar admitted having divergent views on trade, but asserted that friends and large trading partners will have “issues” which can be resolved. Hours after his meeting with Jaishankar, Pompeo also made a policy speech at an event here in which he asserted that the world is worse off when religious rights are compromised and called for speaking “strongly” in favour of religious freedom.
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