US CALLS INDIA’S POSITION ON UKRAINE ‘UNSATISFYING’

Fri 25 March 2022:

A senior White House official said on Friday that India’s UN stance on the Ukraine situation was “unsatisfactory,” but that this was unsurprising given the country’s history with Russia.

Mira Rapp-Hooper, director for the Indo-Pacific on the White House National Security Council, told an online forum hosted by Washington’s School of Advanced International Studies India needed alternatives to continued close ties with Russia.

“I think we would certainly all acknowledge and agree that when it comes to votes at the U.N., India’s position on the current crisis has been unsatisfactory, to say the least. But it’s also been totally unsurprising,” she said.

In recent years, India has forged close connections with the United States and is an important member of the Quad grouping aimed at countering China. It does, however, have a long-standing relationship with Moscow, which continues to be a significant provider of defense equipment. India has avoided criticising Russia’s activities in Ukraine and has abstained from voting on the matter at the United Nations Security Council.

Rapp-Hooper said India had cleaved closer to Russia as a hedge as its relationship with China worsened, but it was thinking “long and hard” about its defense dependency on Russia.

Even before the Ukraine crisis erupted, Delhi upset Washington with its purchase of Russia’s S-400 air defense system, putting it at risk of U.S. sanctions under a 2017 U.S. law aimed at deterring countries from buying Russian military hardware.

Analysts say any sanctions against India could jeopardize U.S. cooperation with Delhi in the Quad forum with Japan and Australia aimed at countering China’s expanding influence.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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