Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], October 18 (ANI): Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Anand Sharma on Sunday said India-US strategic ties must be based on mutual respect and recognition of India's sovereignty, asserting that New Delhi cannot be dictated to on its trade and energy decisions, including purchases of oil and gas from Russia.

Speaking with ANI in Shimla, Sharma said India and the United States had invested substantially in their strategic partnership, but Washington must remain sensitive to India's interests and independent foreign policy choices.

'We have a strategic partnership with the United States, as with many other countries. Now it is for the US also to remain sensitive to India's own situation and needs,' he said.

Sharma's remarks came amid discussions over US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's India engagement and the broader debate over the direction of India-US relations. He emphasised that strategic cooperation should not come at the cost of India's freedom to make sovereign decisions.

'India's sovereignty: India has a right to take sovereign decisions when it comes to engaging with other countries or trading with other countries, particularly in recent times when it comes to the purchase of energy, petroleum, gas from Russia or from any other country. Now we cannot be dictated to,' Sharma said.

He said the enactment of a law by another country did not automatically bind India and stressed that both sides needed to respect the investments made in their strategic relationship.

Sharma also criticised the use of the expression 'indentured servants' in reference to Indian IT professionals working for Indian companies, saying it evoked painful memories of India's colonial past.

The term, he said, recalled the period when Indians were taken overseas to work on plantations, including in the Caribbean and parts of Africa, under indentured labour arrangements.

'That word itself provokes very painful memories of the colonial past,' he said, adding that such language should not have been used.

Sharma said he had seen the Indian government's response and endorsed the Foreign Minister's strong statement on the issue.

'The Indian government must remain firm in defending India's sovereignty,' he said.

He underlined that India's international partnerships extended beyond the United States, naming Russia, the United Kingdom, France and South Africa, and noting that India also had an important strategic relationship with China despite differences between the two countries.

'India is a large country and has a rightful aspiration to be part of the global leadership,' Sharma said.

He said differences between countries were inevitable, but should be handled in a manner that preserved mutual respect and did not undermine bilateral relations. (ANI)