New Delhi: India on Thursday dismissed the US administration’s concerns over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Russia and said all countries in a multipolar world have freedom of choice in deciding on their bilateral relationships.

Donald Lu, the assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, this week joined other American officials who criticised Modi’s trip to Moscow when he told a Congressional hearing that the US was disappointed by the symbolism and timing of the visit at a time when President Joe Biden was hosting the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit in Washington.

When external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal was asked about Lu’s comments at a regular media briefing, he replied that the relationship between India and Russia was based on mutual interests. “You must understand that India has a long-standing relationship with Russia that is based on mutuality of interests,” he said.

“In a multipolar world, all countries have the freedom of choice. It is essential for everybody to be mindful of and appreciate such realities,” Jaiswal added.

There are several aspects to the India-Russia relationship, and there was a thrust on the economic side of the ties during Modi’s visit to Moscow, he said.

During the visit, Modi and President Vladimir Putin set an ambitious trade target of $100 billion by 2030, even as the Indian side focused on measures aimed at ensuring predictable and assured supplies of Russian crude, fertilisers and nuclear fuel for the Kudankulam power plant.

Modi also told Putin that a solution to the Ukraine conflict cannot be found on the battlefield and that peace talks cannot succeed under the shadow of the gun.

While addressing a Congressional hearing on Tuesday, Lu expressed the disappointment of the US administration about the “symbolism and the timing” of Modi’s visit to Russia. “I share your concern about this visit…and we are trying very hard to communicate those concerns directly to the Indians,” Lu said when Republican Congressman Joe Wilson raised concerns about the visit.

Lu, however, also sought to put the visit into context, saying that Modimet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was on the margins of the G7 Summit in Italy, two weeks before travelling to Moscow.

Referring to the outcomes of the visit, Lu said, “We did not see any new major defence deals. We saw no major discussion of technology cooperation. In addition, you have Modi having said in front of Putin, on live television, his feeling that the war in Ukraine could not be won on the battlefield and the pain that he felt watching the death of children in war.”

This, Lu said, was a clear reference to Russia’s bombing of Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital on the day Modi arrived in Moscow.