India has handled the U.S. relatively better than most countries: Venkatesh Varma

India’s overall diplomatic relationship with various countries in recent times has been fairly impressive, D.B. Venkatesh Varma, chair, 2026-27 UN Advisory Board on Disarmament, has said.

Mr. Varma, replying to questions after delivering a special lecture on ‘India’s Strategic Autonomy in a Changing World’, organised by the National Institute of Advanced Studies in honour of Ambassador P.S. Raghavan and his legacy, said, India had maintained its relationships with Russia and also handled the U.S. relatively better than most countries.

“It is not just a test of diplomacy it is also a test of leverage. This combination we have achieved in a manner where we have maintained our relationships with Russia. We have also taken the storm, it is rather a turbulent period of our relationship with the U.S. We have it relatively better than many other countries. It’s not easy to deal with the U.S. today.”

He further added that India had subsequently strengthened our relationship with the European Union, France and Brazil.

Overall record impressive

“We are going to have the Prime Minister of Canada coming soon. We will be hosting the BRICS summit so I would say the overall record is fairly impressive, of course there are multiple challenges,” he added.

Mr. Varma said that the internal security situation in India had improved over a period of time and this had a rebound effect on the productivity of the country, not just in economic terms.

“You see the instances of left-wing violence have been cut down considerably. Unfortunately for a few tragic incidents here and there acts of terrorism have also substantially cut down. There is a general peace in the country. I would not say that there is full peace and stability in the country but over a period of time internal security has improved,” Mr. Varma said.

He also said that India on numerous occasions had demonstrated substantive independence of decision making.

“India has demonstrated independence of decision making. Most recently I would say the success of our Operation Sindoor in the summer of last year. To further underline the unique operational dimensions India declared that it reserved the right to use armed force in retaliation against terror perpetrators and their sponsors across the border.”