US President Joe Biden has said that only India among the Quad group of countries was “somewhat shaky” in acting against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, as India is trying to balance its ties with Russia as well as with the West.
At a time when other Quad countries, namely, the United States, Japan and Australia have imposed sanctions on Russian entities and people, India has not imposed any sanctions on its biggest military equipment supplier.
India has repeatedly urged to put an end to the violence in Ukraine but has not condemned Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
President Biden said to a business forum on Monday that in response to Vladimir Putin’s aggression, the western bloc has brought out a united alignment throughout the NATO and in the Pacific.
Japan has been extremely strong and has been is Australia when dealing with Putin’s aggression, he further added.
Following a virtual summit on Monday between the Prime Ministers of Australia and India, the Indian foreign ministry said that Australia understands Indian position on Ukraine, which “reflected our own situation and considerations”.
India hugely depends on Russia for a continuous supply of arms and ammunition amidst its eastern border standoff with China and never-ending tensions with Pakistan on the western border, even when New Delhi has developed closer ties with the United States in past few years.
Meanwhile, India is looking at the prospect of buying additional Russian oil at deep discounts, with the two major government owned companies recently ordering 5 million barrels.
Indian analysts and government officials have pointed out that while the European countries are publicly criticising Moscow, they are also buying fuels from Russia.
Victoria Nuland, a US Under Secretary of State who had met the Indian foreign secretary on Monday, told NDTV in an interview that the United States has not asked India to instantly stop energy transactions from Russia.
“We have made clear in our conversation that we understand that’s not something that you can cut off immediately, in the same way that we’ve been clear with our European allies who are still too dependent on Russian energy that we understand that they will have to evolve away from it as well,” she said in the NDTV interview that was broadcast on Tuesday.
“But what we do want to do is work together to find alternative sources over time. And that’s what we hope to do with India, whether it’s with regard to the security relationship, the energy relationship, etc”, she further added.
She went on to state that Washington could help India source Soviet-era defence equipment from the outside of Russia.
“We have been supporting the sourcing of security needs for Ukraine, along with our allies and partners, from around the world, including some Soviet-era equipment. And those are the kinds of things that we can do with India as well, as it continues to evolve its position.” Nuland said.
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