US, Australia criticise India as Russia Foreign Minister arrives in Delhi

The US and Australia have criticised India’s decision to consider a Russian proposal, which undermines the American sanctions on Russia. The countries have also expressed their dissatisfaction with the fact that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Delhi for talks on Thursday.

“Now is the time to stand on the right side of history, and to stand with the United States and dozens of other countries, standing up for freedom, democracy and sovereignty with the Ukrainian people, and not funding and fuelling and aiding President Putin’s war,” US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told reporters in Washington on Wednesday.

She called reports of the arrangement “deeply disappointing,” while adding that she hadn’t seen details.

Dan Tehan, Australia’s trade minister, who also spoke at the briefing, said that it was important for democracies to work together “to keep the rules-based approach that we’ve had since the second world war.”

The comments reflect growing unease with India among fellow members of the Quad, which includes the US, Australia and Japan.

Also read: Blinken calls up Jaishankar, discusses worsening situation in Ukraine

India is the world’s largest buyer of Russian weapons, and has also sought to buy cheap oil as fuel prices surge globally.

While India has supported calls for a ceasefire and a diplomatic solution, it has abstained to vote at the United Nations condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on multiple occasions.

India is planning to make rupee-ruble-denominated payments using an alternative to SWIFT, after the US and European Union cut off seven Russian banks from using the cross-border payment system operator.

India’s middle-ground position on the war has left to a raft of diplomacy in the past few weeks, with China’s foreign minister visiting the country for the first time since 2019 and now Lavrov seeking to shore up support. At the same time, the US and its allies are also stepping up engagement in a bid to influence Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited Delhi earlier this month, and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison also held a video summit with Modi.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to discuss “the worsening humanitarian situation in Ukraine” among other issues.

Also read: India stands for peace, wants an end to hostilities: Jaishankar on Russia-Ukraine conflict

During Lavrov’s trip, India would also host US Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics Daleep Singh and UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss. Her office said that she “will point to the importance of all countries’ reducing strategic dependency on Russia at this time of heightened global insecurity.”

India has pushed back against US concerns by noting that it needs Russian arms to counter China, particularly after border clashes in 2020, and that “alternatives are too expensive.”

(With inputs from agencies)