A day after voicing reservations over India forging a slew of deals with Russia at a time when the Western nations have tightened sanctions against it over the Ukraine crisis, the United States has sought to clarify that the just-concluded Putin trip to New Delhi will not cast any shadow on President Obama’s own visit next month.
“No. No. No,” said State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki when asked at a media briefing if the Putin visit to India and the defence and nuclear deals announced in its wake would have any effect on Obama’s upcoming visit to be the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations. “India remains an important partner,” Psaki said, adding: “Obviously, our economic relationship is a big part of what we continue to work on.”
But the spokesperson repeated the assertion that in the light of the Russian actions on the Ukraine front, it “shouldn’t be business as usual” in general with Russia. This, however, did not mean that other countries should also slap sanctions against Moscow.
In a further comment on agreements concluded by India and Russia during Putin’s visit, Psaki said the US has seen the reports about Indian and Russian business signing contracts, adding: “We continue to urge all countries not to conduct business as usual with Russia. We continue to monitor it, but we haven’t looked at all the specifics of the contracts, for obvious reasons.”
Asked if the US had spoken with India on this score, Psaki said Washington has been engaged in that discussion, adding New Delhi has been “pretty outspoken” against Russian actions in Ukraine.
The US Congress, meanwhile, has approved fresh economic sanctions against Russia by approving a new piece of legislation that also authorizes President Obama to provide lethal and non-lethal military aid to Ukraine, including anti-tank weapons, ammunition and “tactical troop-operated surveillance drones”.
Although Obama has been resolute in its support for Ukraine, he has not approved much of its request for major arms supplies, drawing flak from the Republicans. Senator Bob Corker, who co-authored the legislation on the Ukraine matter, commented that the Obama response represented a “hesitant US response to Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine”. The new legislative push will clear the decks for supplying Ukraine with about $350 million worth of military hardware for the battle against Russia-backed separatists.