'It is a relationship of close to 60 years': Jaishankar hails India-Russia ties

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday underscored the robust and enduring nature of the longstanding relationship between India and Russia.Speaking at the Eighth Global Technology Summit (GTS), Jaishankar said, "We have a relationship with Russia and it is not a relationship which happened in an instant. It is a relationship of close to 60 years."He added, "I see a problem defined in a way as though somewhere there's some handicap that India has by having this relationship. But this relationship has saved us many times. Partly there is a lot of history and the force which has been a defining aspect of the India, Russia relationship. If you look at the Eurasian landmass, it makes sense that India and Russia would have strong relations because it is in accordance with the first principle of politics of your neighbour's neighbour."Earlier on Monday, while addressing another event, Jaishankar said that society in the country is "deeply democratised today" and a lot of its leadership and its thought processes are being driven by people and forces that are deeply Indian, grounded and rooted in India."If we have a situation where other parts of the world are trying to force-feed India into their constructs, then it is going to be difficult for them to really grasp what is happening in our country," he said.He also explained what building a "Bharat narrative" means."People sometimes see it as politics, sometimes they look at the word-play and think that this is some kind of linguistic message... I am not getting into the origins of the word or the history of the concept," he said.With inputs from agencies