President Biden wants to consult closely with India on the hostilities in Ukraine

President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met online on April 11 – Photo: REUTERS

According to AFP news agency, the meeting took place amid US frustration with New Delhi’s neutral stance on Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine.

A US official said the hour-long meeting was “warm and productive”.

Mr. Biden began his meeting with Mr. Modi by praising the “deep relationship” between the two countries and saying he wanted to continue “close consultations” with India on the matter. war in Ukraine.

The Prime Minister of India said the Ukraine crisis is “very worrying” and reiterated that New Delhi supports peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, and provides medical assistance to Ukraine.

According to sources, the US president has not made any major demands on India. The meeting ended with no sign of significant improvement in the two sides’ more unified stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

India tries to strike a balance between maintaining ties with the West and keeping its distance from Russia. However, it continued to buy oil from Russia even though this upset the US.

A US administration official quoted by AFP news agency said there were no “specific questions and specific answers” about India’s energy imports from Russia during the meeting.

“We have made it clear that we can ban imports of oil and (gas) and coal from Russia. Other countries have to make their own choices,” the official said.

“We do not think India should accelerate or increase Russian energy imports. The United States is ready to support India, maintain dialogue with India on diversifying its (energy) imports.” the official added.

Previously, at the beginning of March 2022, at the meeting of the Diamond Quartet (the “QUAD” alliance consisting of the US, India, Australia and Japan), Mr. Biden and Mr. Modi disagreed in condemning the military campaign. Russian special.

India also abstained from voting during a special session of the United Nations General Assembly last week to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council in connection with the alleged killings of civilians in Bucha, Ukraine.

The US warned that countries that actively help Russia evade international sanctions will have to bear “consequences”. However, the US warning did not stop India from working with Russia on a payment mechanism in rupees and rubles to avoid banking sanctions, and benefit from high discounts on oil purchases due to Russian manufacturers supply.

India has bought at least 3 million barrels of crude oil from Russia since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out on February 24.

On March 21, Mr. Biden remarked that among US allies, India was “a little shaky” in its response to Russia.