New Delhi: The US State Department has expressed disappointment over the “symbolism and timing” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recently concluded trip to Russia, where he was seen hugging Russian President Vladimir Putin on the same day that a missile struck a children’s hospital in Ukraine.
Top American diplomat Donald Lu, while presenting before the powerful US House Foreign Affairs Committee, said that Washington DC is holding “tough conversations” with New Delhi on these concerns.
“(The US government shares) disappointment about the symbolism and timing of Indian Prime Minister Modi’s trip to Moscow. We are having those tough conversations with our Indian friends,” Lu told the US Congress Wednesday.
“It is shameful for India to continue supporting war criminal Putin in his mass slaughter of Ukrainians,” remarked House Representative Joe Wilson, who serves as a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The comments were made during the committee’s hearing on a budget request for South and Central Asian Affairs.
Earlier this month, Modi picked Russia as his first official state visit overseas since assuming charge as prime minister for the third time.
The visit was viewed as an effort to deepen ties with a “time-tested friend” and put India’s balancing act between Moscow and the West amid the Ukraine war to the ultimate test. Modi and Putin inked nine agreements in an attempt to broaden the trade and economic basket beyond energy and defence.
However, no big-ticket defence deals were signed.
This was an observation made by US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan who said Saturday that India’s historic relationship with Russia is well known and it is not inclined to cut that off. Yet, while speaking at the 2024 Aspen Security Forum in Colorado, he added: “As the junior partner to China, Russia is not necessarily going to be a great and reliable friend to India in a future contingency or crisis.”
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‘Russians can’t deliver weapons anymore’
On 9 July, during Modi’s visit to Moscow, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy slammed Modi over a bear hug between him and Putin. The Ukrainian leader called it a “disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts”.
Modi and Putin’s hug coincided with a day that saw a missile strike on a children’s hospital in Kyiv. It came three weeks after Modi had met Zelenskyy on the margins of the G7 Summit in Italy.
According to Lu, Modi’s remarks after the strike on the children’s hospital provided some assurance to Washington DC.
“In addition, you have Modi having said to Putin on live television, his feeling that the war in Ukraine could not be won on the battlefield and the pain he felt watching the death of children in war — a clear reference to the bombing of the children’s hospital in Kyiv,” explained the top diplomat.
During the hearing, House Representative Wilson remarked that India should refrain from relying on a “dictatorship” such as Russia.
Asked what the US can do to ensure India does not become dependent on Russian weapons, Lu said: “We are trying very hard to communicate those concerns directly to the Indians who have cancelled billions of dollars in defence purchases over these last two-and-a-half years because the Russians can’t deliver anymore.”
During the hearing, Lu reiterated that during Modi’s visit to Russia, the Biden administration did not see any new major defence deals, nor any major discussion on technology.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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