New Delhi:The India-Russia partnership has been among the "steadiest big relationships" in the last 70-80 years and President Vladimir Putin's visit to New Delhi was about "reimagining" the ties with a focus on economic engagement, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday.

In an interactive session, he also disagreed with views that Putin's visit could complicate India's negotiations with the US on a bilateral trade agreement.

"No, I disagree with you. I think everybody knows that India has relations with all the major countries in the world," S Jaishankar said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.

"I think for any country to expect to have a veto or a say in how we develop our relations with others is not a reasonable proposition."

S Jaishankar was asked if Putin's two-day visit to New Delhi that focused largely on significantly enhancing the economic dimension of India-Russia ties will have a bearing on the negotiations with the US for the proposed trade deal.

"Because remember, the others can expect the same. I think we've always made it very clear that we have multiple relationships. We have a freedom of choice," he said.

"We talk about what is called strategic autonomy and that continues and I cannot imagine why anybody would have reason to expect the contrary," he added.

The external affairs minister acknowledged that the focus of the Trump administration has been on trade and noted that India's approach in navigating it is totally driven by national interests.

Source:Ndtv