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Modi, Biden focus on ties in shadow of Ukraine war
Both leaders also spoke of shared democratic values, the progress that has been made in different domains, and the potential for the future, with Biden terming the partnership with India as one of the US’s most important relationships, and Modi terming the two nations as “natural partners”.
On a day marked by intense engagement between the Indian and American leadership in Washington DC, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden, during a virtual meeting on Monday, articulated a shared commitment to deepen India-US ties and sought to bridge differences in their positions on the war in Ukraine, both in public remarks and private discussions.
Biden praised India’s humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and highlighted the need for continuous close consultations to manage the “destablising consequences of the Russian war”, while Modi articulated the Indian position on the issue, including its appeal for peace and direct talks between Russia and Ukraine, condemnation of killings in Bucha and the call for an independent enquiry. He also flagged the need to ensure the security of civilians and unhindered access to humanitarian aid.
Both leaders also spoke of shared democratic values, the progress that has been made in different domains, and the potential for the future, with Biden terming the partnership with India as one of the US’s most important relationships, and Modi terming the two nations as “natural partners”. The PM also said that the India-US friendship would be “an integral part of India’s development journey for the next 25 years”.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh and external affairs minister S Jaishankar, along with secretary of defence Lloyd J Austin and secretary of state Antony J Blinken, sat with Biden in the White House and participated in the conversation. The Indian ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, was also present. In a departure from the norm, this is the first time that there has been an apex leader level meeting before the 2+2 dialogue, which was scheduled later on Monday.
A senior US administration official later described the hour-long talks as “warm, candid, direct, productive” and said that both leaders presented their points of view about the Ukraine crisis. Pointing out that India had made strong statements in recent days on civilian killings, as had PM Modi in his remarks, the official said there were “no concrete asks and no concrete answers” but a “pretty detailed exchange of views” on the issue, and India would make its own judgments and decisions. The official said that energy was discussed, but the US was aware that India was not a major consumer of Russian oil. The official said the US had not asked India to do “anything in particular”, but would not like India to “accelerate imports”.
An Indian statement said that the two leaders had extensive exchange of views on the Covid-19 pandemic, global economic recovery, climate, developments in South Asia, the Indo-Pacific and Ukraine. “Both leaders agreed that the further strengthening of the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership would be of tremendous benefit to the two countries, and would also contribute to global peace, prosperity and stability.”
PM Modi thanked Biden for taking the initiative to host the virtual conversation and recalled that during his visit last year, the US President had said that the India-America partnership can contribute to solving a lot of global problems. “I totally agree with you. As two democracies, the world’s largest and oldest democracies, we are natural partners. The progress that has taken place in our relationship in the last few years, the new momentum we have seen, would have been hard to imagine a few decades ago.”
The PM then dived into the situation in Ukraine, terming it “very worrying”. He spoke about India’s successful attempt to evacuate the 20,000 students who were stuck in Ukraine when the war began, and pointed to his dialogue with both sides. “During this process, I spoke several times on the phone to the Russian and Ukrainian presidents. I not only appealed for peace but also suggested that there be direct talks between the two presidents,” Modi said, referring to his conversations with Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky. The US has asked India to use its leverage with Russia to end the conflict.
Mentioning the discussion on Ukraine in Parliament last week, the PM said that the news about killings of innocents in Bucha was “very worrying”. “We instantly condemned the killings and called for an independent investigation.” Modi said that India hoped that ongoing talks between the two sides would lead to peace. “We have also emphasised the importance of security of civilians and unhindered supply of humanitarian assistance to them,” the PM said, pointing to India’s humanitarian support to Ukraine and Biden’s acknowledgment of it.
At the beginning of the talks, the US President recalled PM Modi’s visit to Washington last September, and said: “As two vibrant democracies, we take the same concerns about global challenges we face with Covid-19, advancing health security, and tackling the climate crisis. We share a strong and growing major defence partnership. At the root of our partnership is a deep connection between our people, ties of family and friendship, and shared values.”
Then, addressing the Ukraine crisis, Biden said that he welcomed India’s humanitarian support for the people of Ukraine “who are suffering horrific assaults”. The US President mentioned the recent shelling on a train station in eastern Ukraine that killed “dozens of children, women and civilians attempting to flee the violence”. “The United States and India will continue our close consultations on how to manage the destabilising consequences of this Russian war.” The senior administration official later described these consequences as the impact on food supplies and commodity markets.
Biden said that “continuous consultations and dialogue” between the two countries were key to ensuring that the relationship continued to grow deeper and stronger to deliver to our people and global good, “particularly in your part of the world”, in what appeared to be an acknowledgment of shared interests in the Indo-Pacific.
“I spoke today with Prime Minister Modi of India. We committed to strengthening our defence, economic, and people-to-people relationship to together seek a peaceful and prosperous world,” Biden later tweeted.
Modi told Biden: “At the beginning of your term, you used a very important slogan – democracies can deliver. The success of the India-America partnership and the success of this partnership is the best means to make this slogan meaningful.” He added that he was confident that the partnership with America would be central to India’s development journey for the next 25 years.
Explaining the rationale and outcome of the call, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said that India was an “incredibly important partner”. “We consult very close with India on a range of issues, and this was an opportunity to discuss consequences of Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war in Ukraine”. She said the call was a recognition of the value that Biden saw in leader-to-leader diplomacy, and provide pathways to build on steps India had taken in recent weeks.
“What India has done to date is condemn the killings of civilians in Bucha, they have supported calls for an independent investigation, they have provided over 90 tonnes of humanitarian relief to Ukraine and its neighbours, including medicines and other essential relief. Earlier in the conflict, they also used their resources to evacuate 154 nationals from 18 different countries. Part of our objective is to build on that, encourage them to do more and that’s why it is important to have leader to leader conversations,” said Psaki.
When asked if the US had asked India to take a side in the Ukraine conflict and adopt a more explicit position, the senior administration official said: “India is going to make its own judgments…The President shared his view. The PM shared his view…we are going to continue these discussions. India will make its own decisions.” The official said that the PM Modi had shared his views in a “pretty candid way”. “India has concerns about the link between Russia and China. India is facing a very tense situation along the Line of Actual Control. When India sees the tight links, that’s obviously going to impact their thinking. There was no concrete ask, no concrete answer, but a pretty detailed exchange of views.”
