Washington cannot put pressure on New Delhi
“Frank” talks between Biden and Modi, and there is no rapprochement in the Ukraine file
Biden and Modi talks were not easy.
AFP
US President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held "candid" video talks on Monday, apparently unsuccessful in bringing the two countries closer together on the war in Ukraine, which is destabilizing their relationship.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told reporters after a meeting in Washington attended by his Indian counterpart and the two countries' defense ministers, which followed the virtual summit between Biden and Modi, that it was "important that all countries, especially those with influence", urge Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war. ».
"It is also important that democracies (...) speak with one voice to defend the values we share," he added.
At the beginning of the virtual meeting, the US president praised the "deep relationship" between the two countries, and expressed his desire to "continue close consultations" in light of the war in Ukraine.
For his part, the Indian Prime Minister described the situation in Ukraine as "very worrying," noting that India supports negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, which Washington views with much pessimism.
Following the ministerial meeting, Indian Foreign Minister S.
Jaishankar held a joint press conference with Blinken, in which he responded with apparent annoyance to a journalist who asked him why his country did not condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying, “Thank you for your advice and suggestion, but I prefer to do it my way.”
After the White House said Biden had warned Modi that it would not be "in India's interest to speed up" its purchases of Russian energy exports—something that would partly offset the decline in Western purchases of these exports—the Indian foreign minister's response was very sharp.
"Our purchases in a whole month may be less than what Europe buys in the afternoon," the minister told reporters.
And a senior official in the White House said that Biden and Modi had a "warm" and "frank" conversation, which lasted about an hour, and the last phrase that the official used several times reflects in diplomatic tradition a degree of tension.
For her part, US presidential spokeswoman Jen Psaki said later, "The president has made it clear that he does not believe it is in India's interest to accelerate or increase its imports of Russian energy," which so far represents a very small part of its purchases, "or raw materials." other.”
Psaki stressed that Washington is ready to "help" India to "diversify" its energy sources.
The Americans fear that India will help Russia by compensating some of its losses resulting from Western sanctions imposed against the backdrop of its invasion of Ukraine, which included ending or reducing imports of Russian gas, oil and coal.
The Biden administration wants to strengthen American alliances in the Asia-Pacific region to confront China, especially the re-launch of the so-called Quad Quad alliance between the United States, India, Australia and Japan, which is embarrassing because of New Delhi's position since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.
Against the backdrop of close bilateral relations inherited from the Cold War era, Narendra Modi's government describes Moscow as a "key pillar" of its foreign policy, due to the "strategic partnership" between them to ensure its national security.
Russia remains India's main arms supplier, but New Delhi also imports oil, fertilizers and rough diamonds.
On the other hand, India exports pharmaceutical products, tea and coffee to the Russian market.
The US administration is well aware of India's dependence on Russia in the military field, so Washington knows that it cannot express sharp public criticism of its important Asian ally.
As a result, after emphasizing at the beginning of the war that all countries should take a clear position on the conflict, the US government showed a cautious understanding of India, although it clearly raised its tone towards China.
Commenting on this issue, Blinken said, "India has to make its own decisions to meet this challenge," without directly criticizing New Delhi.
No. Rather, the US Secretary reminded that the Indian government "condemned the killing of civilians" in Ukraine, and "provided significant humanitarian aid."
Hence, it seems that the US strategy aims to enhance the manifestation of the signs of friendship to prevent India from slipping gradually into the opposite camp.
• The Americans fear that India will help Russia, by compensating some of its losses resulting from the Western sanctions imposed on the background of its invasion of Ukraine, which included ending or reducing imports of Russian gas, oil and coal.
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