The Ukraine crisis is expected to figure in India’s upcoming 2+2 dialogues of defence and foreign ministers with the US and Japan next week, against the backdrop of an increased push from the West to get New Delhi to change its stance on the Russian invasion.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh and external affairs minister S Jaishankar will first travel to the US for a meeting with their American counterparts Lloyd Austin and Antony Blinken on April 11, people familiar with the matter said.
The two ministers will thereafter travel to Japan for a meeting with defence minister Nobuo Kishi and Yoshimasa Hayashi, the people said. While the meetings are yet to be formally announced by the Indian side, the people acknowledged that both the interactions will be an opportunity for both sides to update each other about their perspectives on the Ukraine crisis.
The Indian side is also expected to keep the focus on developments in the Indo-Pacific and the need to ensure a free and open rules-based order, the people added.
{{/usCountry}}The Indian side is also expected to keep the focus on developments in the Indo-Pacific and the need to ensure a free and open rules-based order, the people added.
{{/usCountry}}Donald Lu, the US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs, recently told Hindustan Times that India and the US have “different perspectives” on the Ukraine crisis but they also have convergences, and the American side would like New Delhi to use its leverage to support a peaceful solution.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, during his visit to India last month for an annual summit, had sought greater cooperation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ask Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the hostilities.
India has so far abstained on all Ukraine-related votes and resolutions at United Nations bodies and called for respecting the UN Charter and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries – seen as tacit criticism of the Russian invasion. The Indian side has refrained from publicly condemning the military offensive ordered by Putin.
Addressing an event organised by the Australia India Institute in New Delhi on Monday, Australian high commissioner Barry O’Farrell said there is “no doubt the implications of the invasion of Ukraine will reverberate in our region for some time”.
He added, “Australia and India have accepted a shared responsibility to ensure a peaceful, inclusive and resilient Indo-Pacific – a region where the rights of all states are respected, regardless of size, where disputes are managed peacefully, legally and without coercion.”
During a question and answer session that followed the address, O’Farrell said Australia had made it very clear that it understands the Indian position on the Ukraine conflict. “That was clear in the Quad meeting, where the Quad acknowledged that each country has their position [and] has made clear their position on Ukraine,” he said.
He also noted that former Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had outlined a “sensible doctrine” six decades ago that said India “wasn’t in the business of condemnation”, and was instead “in the business of creating conditions in which solutions can be found”.
Responding to a question on the growing calls for the ouster of Russia from the G20, which will be chaired by India in 2023, O’Farrell said Australia “will continue to lobby that Putin should not be in the G20”. He added, “That is the Australian government’s position as well as the position of a number of other governments and that will be resolved by the G20 themselves.”