Despite the US unease, India charts its own course; QUAD Tokyo conference is a case in point
In a balancing act of sorts, the Government of India is trying to address US and European concerns regarding PM Modi’s meeting with President Putin last month, when many of the leaders were in a huddle in Washington for the NATO summit. President Putin went an extra step to welcome PM Modi in Moscow, signalling a strong message to the US, regarding the long-standing partnership with India. Senior officials in the US expressed deep concern with the optics involved in PM Modi’s Moscow visit while reiterating that nothing significant was achieved.
Russia bilateral is a tightrope, that India has managed to carefully tread on, despite its growing engagement with the US in the past decades.Therefore, this week’s QUAD foreign minister’s conference in Tokyo where External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his US counterpart Anthony Blinken was significant. The joint statement in unequivocal terms condemned Russia’s action in Ukraine, perhaps for the first time joining in such a multilateral official communication. The joint statement read “We express our deepest concern over the war raging in Ukraine including its terrible and tragic humanitarian consequences. We reiterate the need for a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in line with international law, consistent with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, including respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.”