International Desk (National Times)- The United States has warned India of “significant and long-term” consequences if the latter aligns itself with Russia, as US officials expressed \u201cdisappointment\u201d with some of New Delhi\u2019s reactions to the Ukraine invasion, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing President Joe Biden\u2019s top economic adviser.<\/p>\n
Director of the White House National Economic Council, Brian Deese, said: \u201cThere are certainly areas where we have been disappointed by both China and India\u2019s decisions, in the context of the [Ukraine] invasion.\u201d<\/p>\n
He informed reporters that the US has told India that the consequences of a \u201cmore explicit strategic alignment\u201d with Moscow would be \u201csignificant and long-term.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deese\u2019s comments come after Deputy National Security Adviser Daleep Singh travelled to India last week for meetings with officials.<\/p>\n
Read more: Ukraine accuses Russia of civilian ‘massacre’; Russia denies this<\/p>\n
While the US, Europe, Australia and Japan have piled economic sanctions onto Russia in response to its war against Ukraine, India has declined and instead has sought to continue imports of Russian oil.<\/p>\n
New Delhi\u2019s reaction to the invasion is complicating its relationship with Washington, where India is regarded as an important partner in countering Chinese influence in Asia.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat Daleep did make clear to his counterparts during this visit was that we don\u2019t believe it\u2019s in India\u2019s interest to accelerate or increase imports of Russian energy and other commodities,\u201d Press Secretary Jen Psaki said earlier this week.<\/p>\n
India\u2019s Ministry of External Affairs didn\u2019t respond to a message sent by the publication seeking comment.<\/p>\n
Read more: Russia’s Lavrov lobbies India after Western emissaries make case for sanctions<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a day earlier, India\u2019s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar Wednesday again underlined the importance of New Delhi\u2019s ties with Moscow.<\/p>\n
Russia is an \u201cimportant partner in a variety of areas,\u201d the minister told the Parliament. \u201cLike all other countries, we too are assessing the implications of Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine and deciding what is best for our national interest.\u201d<\/p>\n
A US official, on the condition of anonymity, briefed the reporters that the US and the rest of the Group of Seven nations (G7) will continue to collaborate with India and hope that they can align efforts to the greatest extent possible.<\/p>\n
Read more: West pledges to punish Russia over civilian killings in Bucha<\/p>\n
In addition to seeking Russian oil, India is the world\u2019s largest buyer of Russian weapons. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has resisted entreaties from the US and Australia to scale back the relationship, insisting that India needs Russian weapons to counter both Pakistan and China and that alternatives are too expensive, according to people familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
International Desk (National Times)- The United States has warned India of “significant and long-term” consequences if the latter aligns itself with Russia, as US officials expressed \u201cdisappointment\u201d with some of New Delhi\u2019s reactions to the Ukraine invasion, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing President Joe Biden\u2019s top economic adviser. Director of the White House National Economic Council, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29247,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n