President Joe Biden expects that when the top diplomatic and defence leaders of India and the US meet, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its impact on energy and food will be “a central” item in their discussions, according to his Spokesperson Jen Psaki. Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh are scheduled to meet on Monday with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin for their annual 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in Washington under the cloud of differences over approaches to the Russian invasion.

“President Biden believes our partnership with India is one of the most important relationships we have in the world”, she said on Friday at her briefing in Washington.

Biden believes “both sides will continue our close consultations on the consequences of President Putin’s brutal war against Ukraine and mitigating the impact by addressing energy and food prices”, she said.

“We expect that to be a central one”, she stressed. 

The separate official announcements on the 2+2 issued by the State and Defence Departments in Washington and by the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi did not mention Ukraine being on the agenda and instead put the spotlight on the Indo-Pacific.

Biden expects that Blinken and Lloyd “will continue driving forward our work with India and our shared goals in the Indo-Pacific region and around the world”, Psaki said, recalling last month’s virtual summit Biden had with Prime Ministers Narendra Modi of India, Scott Morrison of Australia and Fumio Kishida.

Their four countries make up the Quad, which focuses on security and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific providing the linchpin for US strategy in the region where China’s aggressive posture is increasing.

Regarding energy, Psaki said that the US, which provides 10 per cent of India’s oil imports was ready to help it reduce the 1 to 2 per cent of the supplies it gets from Russia.

Washington’s global policy focus is on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and on isolating Moscow. But India, which has an existential dependence on Russian arms, is not ready to join the US actions against Moscow. While strongly condemning the invasion, India has abstained from voting on UN resolutions against Russia, despite requests from the US.

In the latest vote on Thursday to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council, India abstained – and it was in defiance of Moscow’s threat that it would consider abstentions “unfriendly” action that could impact bilateral relations.

The White House has meanwhile denied that US Deputy National Security Adviser Daleep Singh delivered a warning to India during his visit to New Delhi over the purchase of Russian oil and pointed out that it accounted for only 1-2 per cent of New Delhi's imports while about 10 per cent of its imports were from the US.

“It is only 1 to 2 per cent of their imports.  About 10 per cent of their imports are from the United States”, President Joe Biden’s Spokesperson Jen Psaki said on Friday when a reporter asserted that Singh had “delivered this warning to India to not raise purchases of Russian oil”. 

“I wouldn’t characterize it as a warning, nor did we at the time", Psaki clarified. “President Biden believes our partnership with India is one of the most important relationships we have in the world”, she said.  

Psaki reiterated clarifications once more that sanctions do not apply to oil purchases, especially the size of oil purchases by India, when a section of the US media keeps raising the issue of imposition of sanctions against India while not bringing it up for European nations like Germany that buy far more energy resources from Russia.  

“He went and had a constructive conversation and made clear that while it’s the decision of each individual country, including India, to determine whether they’re going to import Russian oil”, Psaki said.

However, “he conveyed, of course, they should abide by sanctions, which are not related to that decision [on oil purchases] but also, we would be here to help them diversify and move towards even reducing further beyond the 1 to 2 per cent”, Psaki said.

Singh’s statement in New Delhi late last month that “there are consequences to countries that actively attempt to circumvent or backfill the sanctions” spawned headlines about “warning” and “threat” to India based on interpretations by some media.

But he also said during the same conversation with reporters, “I come here in a spirit of friendship to explain the mechanisms of our sanctions, the importance of joining us, to express a shared resolve and to advance shared interests”.

Singh, who is in charge of economic affairs in the US National Security Council, is Biden’s point person on sanctions imposed by the US on Russia. The US has avoided imposing sanctions on energy purchases to accommodate its European allies who rely heavily on Russia.

(SAM)