The US has warned India against warming up to Russia, ahead of a visit byMoscow’s top diplomat to press New Delhi to resist Western pressure tocondemn its invasion of Ukraine.
India has abstained from UN resolutions censuring Moscow and continues tobuy Russian oil from its “longstanding and time-tested friend” and biggestsupplier of arms.
But Delhi shares Western alarm over Beijing’s assertiveness in theAsia-Pacific region, with 20 Indian and four Chinese troops killed in abrawl on their disputed Himalayan border in 2020.
Daleep Singh, Washington’s chief sanctions strategist, was quoted by localmedia in a visit to Delhi as saying that India could not rely on Russia ifthere was another clash.
“Russia is going to be the junior partner in this relationship with China.And the more leverage that China gains over Russia, the less favourablethat is for India,” Singh was quoted as saying on Thursday.
“I don’t think anyone would believe that if China once again breached theLine of (Actual) Control, that Russia would come running to India’sdefence,” he said, referring to the India-China border.
Moscow, facing massive Western sanctions in response to its invasion ofUkraine in February, has declared a “no-limits partnership” with China,which has also failed to condemn Russia’s actions.
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Delhi late Thursday fromChina, where he had hailed Beijing as part of a new “multipolar, just,democratic world order”.
On Friday Lavrov was due to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi andForeign Minister S. Jaishankar.
India and Russia are working on a rupee-ruble mechanismlink to facilitate trade and get aroundWestern sanctions on Russian banks, according to media reports.
Russia has written to India’s defence ministry requesting clearance ofpayments worth $1.3 billion that have been halted since last month,according to the local Economic Times newspaper.
Singh said the US was ready to help India — the world’s third-biggest oilimporter and consumer — diversify its energy and defence supplies. -APP/AFP
