Ajit Karn
Washington: The United States has expressed hope that it can work with India to resolve the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, according to a March 2 press briefing by US State Department spokesperson Ned Price. He stated that India is capable of communicating with moral clarity.
In response to a query about the role India can play in ending the ongoing conflict, Price stated, “Prime Minister Modi has demonstrated India’s capacity to speak with extraordinary moral clarity. Last year, when Prime Minister Modi said, “This is not a time of conflict,” the world listened as it should have, because when Prime Minister Modi and his country say something to that effect, it is significant to the United States, it is significant to Russia, and it is significant to countries nearby.”
“We will continue to engage with our Indian partners; as the G20 host, they have a distinctive role in this.” But also as a country with whom we have a global strategic partnership and as a country that has a unique relationship with Russia that we do not, he added, “this is not and should not be a time of conflict.”
He stated, “We hope to work closely with India to bring an end to this conflict, an end to this Russian aggression that is, at its root, tolerable and very much in accordance with the UN charter’s principles.” Price stated that India has historical relations with Russia and is connected to Russia in numerous ways that the United States is not.”
Price stated that India’s relations with Russia are distinct from those of the United States with Moscow. He emphasised India’s enormous economic, political, and moral leverage in a variety of sectors.
“There are countries around the world that have a different relationship with Russia than we do, and India is undoubtedly in that category. Russia and India have enduring historical connections. It has connections to Russia that the United States does not have and has not had. India possesses considerable leverage in a variety of domains, including economic leverage, diplomatic leverage, political leverage, and moral leverage, according to Ned Price.
During his encounter with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s summit in Samarkand last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated, “The current era is not one of conflict, and I have discussed this with you over the phone.” Notably, India has repeatedly advocated for dialogue to resolve the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken exhorted his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Thursday to reverse Moscow’s “irresponsible decision” and return to implementing the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treat) nuclear arms reduction treaty.
Blinken verified that he encountered Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi on Thursday by stating, “I had a brief conversation with him today.”
“I urged Russia to reverse its imprudent decision and return to implementing New START, which establishes verifiable limits on the United States and Russian Federation’s nuclear arsenals. Mutual compliance is in both of our countries’ best interests. It is also what the international community expects of us as nuclear powers, Blinken added.
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He added, “I told the foreign minister that the United States will always be ready to engage and act on strategic arms control, just as the United States and the Soviet Union did during the height of the Cold War.”
This was the first face-to-face meeting between the two foreign ministers since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which began more than a year ago and caused a schism between Western nations and Russia, began. He stated that all nations continue to pay for Russia’s aggression.
