India and the US discussed the ramifications of the ongoing war in Ukraine during a telephonic conversation between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar late on Wednesday. The two leaders reviewed regional priorities, the worsening humanitarian situation in Ukraine and promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific.
“Just completed a useful conversation with @SecBlinken. Reviewed the progress on our bilateral cooperation. Discussed developments pertaining to the Indo-Pacific, Ukraine, and the global economy,” Jaishankar tweeted.
“The two leaders spoke to review regional priorities, including the worsening humanitarian situation in Ukraine and our shared efforts to promote a free, open, secure, and prosperous Indo-Pacific, in which the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states is respected,” State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said.
Meanwhile, visiting US Deputy National Security Adviser for International Economics, Daleep Singh, on Thursday said the USA will not set any “red line” for India on its energy imports from Russia but does not want to see a “rapid acceleration”.
“Friends don’t set red lines,” Daleep Singh told reporters. As against purchase of 16 millions barrels oil in 2021, India has bought at least 13 million barrels of Russian crude oil since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The discussion between Jaishankar and Blinken took place hours before Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in New Delhi to hold talks with the Indian leadership on Friday.
It is the first visit by a Russian Minister to India since the military operations began in Ukraine on February 24. India and Russia are likely to discuss issues like rupee-rouble trade and procurement of oil at discounted prices. The two sides are also likely to take stock of the ongoing weapons supply, including S-400 missile, to India.
Blinken wrapped up a tour of the West Asia, North Africa, and India on Wednesday, making an impassioned appeal to Algeria to limit its ties with Russia.
“The countries of North Africa and the Middle East(West Asia) have experienced themselves the consequences of Russia’s military campaigns before,” Blinken said.
India and the US have been in touch over the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The US Deputy NSA Daleep Singh arrived in India on Wednesday on a two-day visit.
Hours after his arrival, Singh held talks with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal. Singh is known to be a key architect in designing the US sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
The visiting US official also met Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla on Thursday and discussed India-US economic cooperation and strategic partnership. “Look forward to working together on global issues of mutual interest, including in G20,” Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.
