U.S. Criticizes India on Russia Talks as Lavrov Visits Delhi

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. and Australia criticized India for considering a Russian proposal that would undermine sanctions imposed by America and its allies, showing a deepening rift between the emerging security partners as Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov traveled to Delhi for talks. 

“Now is the time to stand on the right side of history, and to stand with the United States and dozens of other countries, standing up for freedom, democracy and sovereignty with the Ukrainian people, and not funding and fueling and aiding President Putin’s war,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told reporters in Washington on Wednesday. She called reports of the arrangement “deeply disappointing,” while adding that she hadn’t seen details.

Dan Tehan, Australia’s trade minister who also spoke at the briefing, said it was important for democracies to work together “to keep the rules-based approach that we’ve had since the second world war.”

The comments reflect growing unease with India among fellow members of the Quad, a group of democracies seeking to counter China’s assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region that also includes the U.S., Australia and Japan. India is the world’s largest buyer of Russian weapons, and has also sought to buy cheap oil as fuel prices surge.

While India has supported calls for a cease-fire and a diplomatic solution, it abstained at the United Nations on votes for draft resolutions condemning Russia’s invasion that were ultimately vetoed by Moscow. Bloomberg reported Wednesday that India is weighing a plan to make rupee-ruble-denominated payments using an alternative to SWIFT after the U.S. and European Union cut off seven Russian banks from using the Belgium-based cross-border payment system operator.  

The Russian plan involves rupee-ruble-denominated payments using the country’s messaging system SPFS and central bank officials from Moscow are likely to visit next week to discuss the details. No final decision has been taken.

India’s middle-ground position on the war has left to a raft of diplomacy in the past few weeks, with China’s foreign minister visiting for the first time since 2019 and now Lavrov seeking to shore up support. At the same time, the U.S. and its allies are also stepping up engagement in a bid to influence Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. 

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited Delhi earlier this month, and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison also held a video summit with Modi. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a call with his counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, to discuss “the worsening humanitarian situation in Ukraine” among other issues. 

During Lavrov’s trip, India is also hosting U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics Daleep Singh and U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss. At an event in New Delhi, where Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar was present, she called Russia the “number one threat” to world order and said the U.K. wanted more sanctions on Russian banks.

“I have outlined the U.K.’s position on the sanctions and we are ending our dependence on Russian oil by end of this year. We are looking to achieve a time table with the G-7 later this week,” Truss said. “We respect other countries and issues they face. India is a sovereign nation. I’m not going to tell India what to do.”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a text message to reporters that Lavrov would meet Modi and Jaishankar Friday. India’s Ministry of External Affairs issued a one-line statement saying the Russian official would meet Jaishankar. 

India has pushed back against U.S. concerns by noting that it needs Russian arms to counter China, particularly after border clashes in 2020, and the alternatives are too expensive. The strategic relationship between India and Russia dates back to the Cold War and remains robust, even as Modi has shifted the country more toward the U.S. orbit in recent years.

On Thursday Jaishankar also pushed back against what he called a “concerted campaign against India’s oil purchase from Russia.”

“India is not among the top 10 buyers of Russian oil,” the minister said.

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