US: India to face significant cost if aligned with Russia
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The US tells India that the consequences of a more "explicit strategic alignment" with Russia would be "significant and long-term."
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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 2019 BRICS Summit (Reuters)
Joe Biden's top economic advisor says the US administration has "warned" India against aligning itself with Russia, and US officials said they have been disappointed with India's approach to the Ukraine siuation.
“There are certainly areas where we have been disappointed by both China and India’s decisions, in the context of the invasion,” the director of the White House National Economic Council, Brian Deese, told reporters at a breakfast Wednesday hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.
The US warned India, saying that the consequences of a "more explicit strategic alignment" with Russia would be "significant and long-term."
India did not follow the West in the latter's economic sanctions against Russia, declining to sanction Moscow and continuing to import Russian oil.
Sanctions architect to India
Deese's comments follow a visit to India by US Deputy National Security Advisor Daleep Singh for meetings with officials.
“What Daleep did make clear to his counterparts during this visit was that we don’t believe it’s in India’s interest to accelerate or increase imports of Russian energy and other commodities,” Press Secretary Jen Psaki said earlier this week.
The media has dubbed Singh a "czar" and "architect" of the anti-Russia sanctions and the meeting follows the US and allies attempting to exert pressure on India to join the sanctions campaign against Russia.
So far, it has refused to comply, refusing to vote at the United Nations to condemn the operation and even agreeing to purchase Russian oil at a discount earlier this month. Though Indian authorities have called for a stop to the war in Ukraine and appealed for a peaceful conclusion, the government has not backed down before calls for tougher sanctions against Russia.
Russia is India's largest weapons exporter, and Russia began delivering its S-400 ground-to-air defense system to India back in December 2021.
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