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U.S. and India to Keep ‘Close Consultation’ on Ukraine, Biden Says

Biden lauded India’s efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.

U.S. and India to Keep ‘Close Consultation’ on Ukraine, Biden Says
U.S. President Joe Biden meets virtually with Narendra Modi, India's prime minister. [Photographer: Chris Kleponis/CNP/Bloomberg]

President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a candid discussion Monday about how to counter the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a senior U.S. administration official said. 

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden conveyed that the U.S. stands ready to help India diversify its energy imports, which would make it less reliant on Russia.

“The president has made clear that he does not believe it’s in India’s interest to accelerate or increase imports of Russian energy and other commodities,” Psaki told reporters Monday.

U.S. and India to Keep ‘Close Consultation’ on Ukraine, Biden Says

Despite rising tensions between the two countries, the senior administration official characterized the meeting as warm and productive. 

The leaders also discussed India’s role in helping to bolster global food supply, the official said. 

Modi’s reluctance to criticize Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression in Ukraine has complicated a budding security partnership between the two democracies in countering China’s influence. 

Modi, via translator, said he had been appealing for peace and called the killings in the Ukrainian city of Bucha “very worrying.”

“I am confident that our friendship with America will be an integral part of India’s development journey over the next 25 years,” Modi told Biden.

Biden struck an upbeat tone at the start of Monday’s virtual meeting, his first bilateral session with Modi since the invasion. 

“The United States and India are going to continue our close consultation on how to manage the destabilizing effects of this Russian war,” Biden told Modi in their video conference, the opening portion of which was aired live. He said “consultation and dialog are key to ensuring the U.S.-India relationship continues to grow deeper and stronger, delivering our people and our global good that we all are seeking.”

Biden lauded India’s efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine without mentioning the U.S. pressure for India to take a harder public line against Russia more than a month after the invasion. 

“The root of our partnership is a deep connection between our people, ties of family and friendship” and a shared value system, Biden said.

While the U.S., Europe, Australia and Japan have piled economic sanctions on Russia, India has declined and instead has continued imports of Russian oil. 

The unscheduled meeting between the two leaders was done at the request of the U.S. officials, according to people familiar with the matter. 

Top Officials

Later in the day, U.S. and Indian diplomats and defense officials met in person in Washington and hinted in a news conference at their differences between pledges of cooperation.

“The United States will continue to increase our support to the government and people of Ukraine and call on other nations to do the same -- just as we call on all nations to condemn Moscow’s increasingly brutal actions,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. He added that the U.S. is urging all nations to refrain from increasing energy and weapons purchases from Russia.

India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar repeated his nation’s previous calls for dialog and diplomacy, while minimizing the significance of its Russian energy purchases. “Our total purchases for the month might be less than what Europe does in an afternoon,” he told a reporter. “So you might want to think about it.”

Jaishankar will go for a “heavy duty” outreach program in the U.S., meeting with key government officials, think-tanks in an effort to mend the perception that India is standing with Moscow, the people said. New Delhi is keen to convince Washington to take a long term view on the U.S.-India relationship instead of a short-term war-centric perspective, they said. 

India is the world’s largest buyer of Russian weapons, and Modi has resisted entreaties from the U.S. and Australia to scale back the relationship, insisting that his nation needs Russian weapons to counter both Pakistan and China and that alternatives are too expensive. 

India has historically attempted a neutral stance on tensions between major powers, even as it has joined groups such as the Quad security alliance with Australia, Japan and the U.S.

The White House last month dispatched Deputy National Security Advisor Daleep Singh to New Dehli to convey the repercussions of violating sanctions and to make clear that the U.S. doesn’t think India should increase its imports of Russian energy and other commodities, Psaki said last week. She added that the U.S. would support India in any efforts to diversify its imports.

Top Biden administration officials have publicly expressed alarm and disappointment with India’s reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its purchases of weapons and discounted oil from Moscow. However, people familiar with the matter have told Bloomberg News that the public position is contrary to private discussions between the two sides.

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.