Indian stance frustrates US
President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a "candid exchange of views" on the Ukraine crisis at a virtual summit Monday, but the United States appeared to have made little progress in wooing India away from its neutral stance on Russia's invasion.
"It is important that all countries, especially those with leverage, press Putin to end the war," Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters after the virtual summit, which was followed by an in-person meeting with his Indian counterpart and the defense ministers from both countries.
"And it's also important that democracies stand together and speak with one voice to defend the values that we share," Blinken said after the talks, described by one US official as "warm and productive."
Biden made no major demands of India, a key strategic ally in US plans to contain growing Chinese power in the Asia-Pacific region, and there was no indication of significant progress toward a unified posture on the Ukraine conflict.
But White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Biden "made clear that he does not believe it's in India's interest to accelerate or increase imports of Russian energy and other commodities."
Modi has tried to walk a tightrope between maintaining relations with the West and avoiding alienating Russia, but has raised concerns in Washington by continuing to buy Russian oil.
In his talks with Biden, he merely said the situation was "very worrying" and recalled his support for talks between Russia and Ukraine, which Washington views with skepticism.
Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar showed a hint of annoyance when he told reporters asking about Biden's push for India to cut energy imports from Russia that "probably our total purchases for the month would be less than what Europe does in an afternoon."
Biden has been pressuring world leaders to take a hard line against Moscow, although a US official said there was no "concrete ask and concrete answer" on energy imports.
"India has to make its own decisions about how it approaches this challenge," said Blinken, noting however that India "has made very strong statements ... condemning the killing of civilians in Ukraine" and was "providing significant humanitarian assistance."
Failing to win over such a key ally to its cause, Washington appears instead to be heaping on the pledges of friendship to prevent India from gradually slipping into the Russian camp, with Moscow actively courting it.
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