Quad summit: PM Modi, Joe Biden to hold ‘constructive, straightforward’ dialogue on Ukraine
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden will meet on Tuesday, on the sidelines of the Quad summit in Tokyo. The two leaders will hold a “constructive and straightforward” dialogue on the ongoing Ukraine crisis.
PM Modi left for Tokyo today. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the meeting will be a continuation of the conversation they have already had on “how we see the picture in Ukraine”.
“They will talk all of that through and this will be similarly constructive and straightforward,” he added.
Before leaving for Japan, PM Modi said the two countries will continue their dialogue on regional development and contemporary global issues.
India hasn’t criticised Russia directly but has been calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities. It had also condemned civilian killlings in Ukraine. Many NATO and European countries have imposed sanctions against the Kremlin, and hope India takes a strong stand against the unprovoked Russian invasion.
However, due to a long history of cooperation and ties with Russia, India has been conservative in condemning the country. Also, Indian armed forces largely depend on Russian military hardware, a fact the United States recently acknowledged. There have been deliberations in the United States regarding increasing defence cooperation with India to reduce its dependence on Russia.
On Saturday, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said: “Our position on Ukraine is amply clear and has been reiterated many times. Right from the time when hostilities began in February, we asked for an immediate cessation of hostilities and the path of diplomacy and dialogue remains the best policy to move forward in this regard.”
Quad is a grouping of four countries – India, Australia, Japan and the United States – created to counter China’s growing assertiveness in the Indo Pacific region. The main state goal of the group is to keep the strategic sea routes free of Chinese hegemony.
China sees the grouping as a measure to stop its global rise. It has also termed it as the Nato of Asia.