Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden set the ball rolling for the India-US 2+2 dialogue with a virtual meeting early Monday.
Foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and defence minister Rajnath Singh will hold extensive discussions with their US counterparts – secretary of state Antony Blinken and defence secretary Lloyd Austin in Washington later today. The meeting between the two leaders will likely be for around 45 minutes to one hour.
The opening remarks by both leaders were warm and cordial though there will be tough talk on India’s position on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine behind closed doors.
The Americans are put off by New Delhi’s refusal to openly condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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The fact that President Biden called for a virtual conversation with the Prime Minister ahead of the 2+2 is an indication of how much effort is going into weaning India away from Russia.
New Delhi’s neutral stand is irking Washington.The US have not hidden their disappointment over India’s stand and both Modi, Jaishankar, and Rajnath Singh are aware that there would be some tough talk.
In his opening remarks, Prime Minister thanked the US President for initiating the virtual meeting. Modi said their conversation ahead of the 2+2 meeting would set the framework for the meeting slated for later Monday morning.
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He emphasised the shared values of the two countries: “As the world's two largest and oldest democracies, we are natural partners. And the progress that has been made in our relations over the last few years, the new momentum that has been created, perhaps it was something difficult to imagine, even a decade ago from today.’’
He said they were talking at a time when the situation in Ukraine was of great concern to the international community. The PM spoke of India’s successful effort at evacuating 20,000 citizens, mostly students from Ukraine.
He said he had spoken separately to both President Vladimir Putin as well as President Zelenskyy several times. ``I not only appealed for peace, but also suggested President Putin to have direct talks with the President of Ukraine.”
The subject of Ukraine has also been discussed in great detail in our Parliament.
The Prime Minister’s efforts were to tell his US counterpart that India may not have pointed fingers at Moscow, but was as concerned about civilian death in Bucha, as much as the West.
Modi said India has ``condemned the killings immediately,’’ and demanded a was also deeply worried about reports of civilians killed in Bucha. “We condemned it immediately and have also demanded a fair probe. We hope that the ongoing dialogue between Russia and Ukraine will pave the way for peace.”
He spoke at length about the humanitarian help that New Delhi had sent to Ukraine and the PM added that more aid would be extended and that Ukraine had requested an additional consignment of medicines.
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He recalled President Biden’s slogan that ``democracies can deliver’’ and said that India and the US can show this through the success of their partnership. He concluded by saying that as India and the US were celebrating 75-years of diplomatic ties, “I am confident that friendship with the United States will remain an integral part of India's development journey over the next 25 years.’’
