New Delhi, Dec. 7 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to India for a bilateral summit this week reflected India's freedom of choice and policy of strategic autonomy, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday against the backdrop of pressure from the US to reduce purchases of Russian oil and military hardware. The summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Putin resulted in a five-year economic programme to diversify and balance trade, a mobility agreement and measures to deepen the energy partnership, and Jaishankar noted at the 23rd Hindustan Times Leadership Summit that India-Russia ties have been among the steadiest big power relationships in a world that has seen a lot of ups and downs in the past eight decades. Asked if Putin's visit complicated dealings with the US, Jaishankar said India has relations with all major countries and it isn't reasonable for any country to "expect to have a veto" on how New Delhi develops its relationships. "I think we've always made it very clear that we have multiple relationships. We have a freedom of choice. 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 said.P11...