President Joe Biden’s top economic adviser said the administration haswarned India against aligning itself with Russia, and that U.S. officialshave been “disappointed” with some of New Delhi’s reaction to the Ukraineinvasion.
“There are certainly areas where we have been disappointed by both Chinaand India’s decisions, in the context of the invasion,” the director of theWhite House National Economic Council, Brian Deese, told reporters at abreakfast Wednesday hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.
The U.S. has told India that the consequences of a “more explicit strategicalignment” with Moscow would be “significant and long-term,” he said.
While the U.S., Europe, Australia and Japan have piled economic sanctionsonto Russia in response to its war against Ukraine, India has declined andinstead has sought to continue imports of Russian oil.
New Delhi’s reaction to the invasion is complicating its relationship withWashington, where India is regarded as an important partner in counteringChinese influence in Asia.
Deese’s comments come after Deputy National Security Advisor Daleep Singhtraveled to India last week for meetings with officials.
“What Daleep did make clear to his counterparts during this visit was thatwe don’t believe it’s in India’s interest to accelerate or increase importsof Russian energy and other commodities,” Press Secretary Jen Psaki saidearlier this week.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs didn’t respond to a message seekingcomment sent after normal business hours.
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India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar Wednesday again underlinedlinkimportance of New Delhi’s ties with Moscow.
Russia is an “important partner in a variety of areas,” the minister toldparliament. “Like all other countries, we too are assessing theimplications” of Russia’s war in Ukraine and “deciding what is best for ournational interest.”
The U.S. and the rest of the Group of Seven nations will continue tocollaborate with India and hope that they can align efforts to the greatestextent possible, a U.S. official said in a briefing for reporters Wednesdayon new sanctions against Russia. India and the U.S. collaborate extensivelyon food security and global energy, the official said.
The official asked not to be identified as a condition of the briefing.
In addition to seeking Russian oil, India is the world’s largest buyer ofRussian weapons. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has resistedentreaties from the U.S. and Australia to scale back the relationship,insisting that India needs Russian weapons to counter both Pakistan andChina and that alternatives are too expensive, according to people familiarwith the matter.
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