Washington: The United States appreciated India’s “very strong statements in New York at the UN, the minister, before the Indian parliament, condemning the killing of civilians in Ukraine, calling for an independent investigation of these atrocities”.
The US Secretary of State, Antony J. Blinken also noted that “India is providing significant humanitarian assistance to the people of Ukraine, notably medicines, which are very necessary and in real demand”.
To questions such as India and Russia working out some sorts of currency exchange for future energy purchases, as well as India’s plans to deploy the Russian S-400 missile defence system, Blinken acknowledged that India’s relationship with Russia had developed over decades at a time when the United States was not able to be a partner to India. He though said: “Times have changed. Today we are able and willing to be a partner of choice with India across virtually every realm – commerce, technology, education, and security. And that was very much the nature of the conversation that we had today.”
A senior White House administration official earlier pointed out that India is not a major consumer of Russian oil and its current imports are about 1 to 2 per cent of its total energy imports. The official further pointed out that as of now, “our energy payments are exempt from current sanctions. And we’ve been very clear that we’ve been able to ban oil and LNG and coal imports from Russia, but other countries have to make their own choices. That said, we don’t think India should accelerate or increase imports of Russian energy. And the U.S. is ready to support India, remain in a conversation with India about its diversification of imports”.
India, meanwhile, called for increased investments by US defence companies in India under the ‘Make in India’ programme.
“Participation of US entities in Industrial collaboration and partnership in research and development will be critical for the success of India’s ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ campaigns,” Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said today after the India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue here.
The fourth U.S.-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue was Dialogue was preceded by a virtual meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joseph Biden.
During the course of the hourlong meeting, President Biden affirmed that the US partnership with India “is one of our most important relationships”. “The meeting was warm and productive, and they covered a lot of ground,” a Senior White House administration official, said, and added that the leaders were able to talk about joint efforts on the global effort to end the COVID-19 pandemic. They talked about climate, about strengthening the global economy, and about upholding a free and open Indo-Pacific, including the development of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework and infrastructure.
“And President Biden also took the opportunity to continue the close consultations we’ve been having with India at a number of different levels across our government and over the course of many weeks on Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine. The U.S. and India are partnering and consulting on mitigating the most destabilizing impacts, both on global food supply and other commodity markets,” the official said.
Besides, Singh, Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar, the US Secretary of State Antony J Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, participated in the dialogue here on April 11, 2022.
Following is the transcript of the Press Conference addressed by the four leaders who participated in the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue:
Moderator: We’ll now turn to questions. We’ll take four questions, alternating two questions per delegation. We’ll start with Rosiland Jordan of Al Jazeera English.
Question: Ministers, Secretaries, thank you. Keeping in mind that all four of you have talked about the deep friendship and alliance between the U.S. and India, I have several questions.
First, for Secretary Blinken: Isn’t it problematic that after 48 days of war that India has yet to condemn Russia’s invasion. What more can the U.S. do to persuade India to make what some argue is a symbolic step but still a critical one? And there are a number of reports suggesting that Moscow and Delhi are trying to work out some sort of currency exchange for future energy purchases. Did you tell Secretary Jaishankar that these could risk violations of not just current sanctions but also risk violating CAATSA?
Secretary Austin, this is a larger policy question. Has the U.S. missed an opportunity in the past 17 years since the beginning of this strategic partnership to replace Moscow as Delhi’s choice for weapons, for military materiel, not just the training and the robust partnership that we see in the militaries here?
And finally, for the Ministers Jaishankar and Singh, why not condemn Russia’s invasion? Wouldn’t this best reflect India’s foreign policy goals and international standing? And what is the leverage that the Indian Government has to persuade Vladimir Putin that the carnage that we are seeing every day simply must (inaudible) stop, that it’s not helping the Ukrainian people, and that it’s not helping the Russian people? Thank you so much.
Blinken: Thank you. I’m happy to start. I applaud the multi-part, multi-person question.
A few things. First, I should note, before getting into the specifics of the question, that Prime Minister Modi and President Biden had a very warm and productive conversation today in their virtual summit. Covered a lot of ground, including some of the things that we mentioned – COVID-19, climate, strengthening the global economy, the free and open Indo-Pacific that we both aspire to.
On Russia-Ukraine, they talked about ways of mitigating the profound impact that this is having on global food supplies and prices, commodity markets, and working together to achieve that.
I would note India has made very strong statements in New York at the UN, the minister, before the Indian parliament, condemning the killing of civilians in Ukraine, calling for an independent investigation of these atrocities. And I would also note that India is providing significant humanitarian assistance to the people of Ukraine, notably medicines, which are very necessary and in real demand.
India has to make its own decisions about how it approaches this challenge. We as a general proposition are consulting with all of our allies and partners on the consequences of Putin’s war, the atrocities being committed against the people of Ukraine. In our judgment, it is important that all countries, especially those with leverage, press Putin to end the war. And it’s also important that democracies stand together and speak with one voice to defend the values that we share. And we do share, profoundly, the values of freedom, openness, independence, sovereignty, and those values need to apply everywhere.
India’s relationship with Russia has developed over decades at a time when the United States was not able to be a partner to India. Times have changed. Today we are able and willing to be a partner of choice with India across virtually every realm – commerce, technology, education, and security. And that was very much the nature of the conversation that we had today.
When it comes to oil purchases, sanctions, et cetera, I’d just note that there are carveouts for energy purchases. Of course we’re encouraging countries not to purchase additional energy supplies from Russia. Every country is differently situated, has different needs and requirements, but we’re looking to allies and partners not to increase their purchases of Russian energy.
Austin: Well, thanks, Ros. I – regarding missed opportunities, of course, I can’t say much about policy decisions that were made before my time. But what I can tell you is that President Biden truly values strong alliances and partnerships like the one that we have with India. And that’s really what today is all about. It’s about taking a strong relationship and making it even stronger, and working on those things that create interoperability and allow us to work together to promote the things that all of us have talked about. The issue of values is central to our – this relationship, and we’ll continue to work to strengthen what’s a very strong relationship and so that we don’t miss any opportunities going forward. So thanks.
Jaishankar: I think I’ll probably answer for both of us. So first of all, thank you for the advice and suggestions in your question. I prefer to do it my way and articulate it my way. Now, as Secretary Blinken has pointed out, we have made a number of statements which outline our position in the UN, in our parliament, and in other forums. And briefly, what those positions state is that we’re against the conflict; we are for dialogue and diplomacy; we are for an urgent cessation of violence; and we are prepared to contribute in multiple ways to these objectives.
I noticed you refer to oil purchases. If you are looking at energy purchases from Russia, I would suggest that your attention should be focused on Europe, which probably we do buy some energy which is necessary for our energy security. But I suspect, looking at the figures, probably our total purchases for the month would be less than what Europe does in an afternoon. So you might want to think about that.
Moderator: We’ll turn to Lalit Jha, Press Trust of India.
Question: (Off-mike.)
Do I need to repeat? Okay. Mr. Jaishankar, (inaudible).
My second question is to Secretary Blinken and Secretary Austin. India, being in a tough neighborhood, is seeking to diversify its energy and (inaudible). As Prime Minister Modi says, the final goal is (inaudible), which means – also means a self-reliant India, and this includes energy independence. U.S. has played a key role in India getting food security through Green Revolution. In that context, my question to both of you is what the United States is offering to help India achieve this goal in the field of both energy and (inaudible). Thank you.
Jaishankar: So if I could respond to the first question, what are we doing to mitigate volatility and unpredictability that the world is currently experiencing. Well, let me start – there are a number of things which are happening in the world. Let me start with the Ukraine situation.
I think part of what we are doing is to press for a cessation of hostilities, which I think everybody would agree would mitigate matters and clearly make the world less unpredictable. We’re also addressing the humanitarian situation. In fact, we have – the Ukrainians have been in touch with us for – especially for the supply of medicines. We’ve already provided humanitarian relief to Ukraine, to some of their neighbors, and even as we speak, a shipment of medicines is being delivered or will be delivered very soon to Kyiv.
We have discussed the economic consequences as well. I mean, we are looking at it ourselves, but we have discussed it as partners. I think a big concern we have – and not just we, I think the world has – is of energy security, of rising prices, of increasing premiums, of limited supplies. So today, you have to understand it is a legitimate concern of countries to ensure their energy security. But an equally big worry which is emerging is of food security. There are concerns across geographies of societies who are importing wheat or sugar or other foodstuff out of the conflict region.
So we have discussed today – not just us, but I think the subject also came up in the virtual summit between Prime Minister Modi and President Biden – about what could India do to stabilize the global economic situation. And we are quite willing, and in fact we’ve already started responding to the need for greater food supplies, especially wheat most of all but to some degree sugar as well. We have, even as we – at this moment a number of countries are discussing with us the possibility of greater food supplies, including the World Food Program.
So that’s the Ukraine part of the global situation, but that’s not the only problem that we face. I think that COVID has also left us with a lot of uncertainties and a lot of challenges to be addressed. Again, I think part of it is how do you construct more reliable and resilient supply chains, how do you increase trust and transparency, how do we work together on critical and emerging technologies like 5G. And again, we discussed an Indian initiative called performance-linked initiative which would incentivize manufacturing in India, and I think it’s very much in American interest to support it. We also spoke about how we could work together to help with the global health situation. How do we get a shot in every arm? How do we increase the distribution of vaccines?
And the other issue again which has added to global uncertainty is Afghanistan, and how do you stabilize the region, how do you again provide humanitarian assistance. We are, as you know, in the middle of providing 50,000 tons of wheat. How do you deal with the terrorism concerns that the world has in the Security Council, in FATF, et cetera? And I would say in a way, in terms of mitigating and stabilizing, the Quad itself is a great stabilizer. So that too is part of the contribution we are making towards a better world, and making that contribution in large measure through our partnership with the United States.
Blinken: You want to start?
Austin: Yeah, I’m going to start. The question was what are we offering to India in support of its defense security, I think was the question.
As you heard in our earlier statements, we’re working closely with India on a range of priorities to support India’s security and its role as a net security provider. It is – it’s a leader in the region and it actually exports security to the region, and we’re grateful for that. Some of the things that we talked about, as we stated in our opening statements: information sharing, deeper cooperation in space, in cyberspace, liaison exchanges, continuing to work together more frequently and in the – in exercises but also exercises of increasing complexity. So we’re working with India on a number of things, and we think these things will add tremendous value to the region in terms of security.
Blinken: And on the last part of the question on energy, first let me say what we’re seeing across the board is that the Russian aggression against Ukraine is having profound impacts not only on the people of Ukraine, the brutalization of the country, but it is having global impacts, including, as we were talking about, on food availability and prices and also on energy. And we’ve seen significant increases in price there as well.
One of the important steps that President Biden took was to proceed with a coordinated release from strategic petroleum reserves that will continue over the next – for the part of the United States over the next six months to ensure that there is adequate energy on world markets, both to have an impact on availability as well as on price to deal with the disruptions caused by the Russian aggression. I think if that aggression stops, if the conflict stops, it will have a positive impact both on energy availability and prices as well as on food availability and food prices.
More broadly, though, India is the third largest consumer of energy in the world. It’s a big place, a big market. Electricity demand is projected to double by 2030. We’ve dramatically increased our own energy trade with India, diversifying its energy sources. Our energy exports to India now total about $11 billion a year. Ultimately, the most effective way to satisfy this growth, the needs of the Indian people, the Indian economy, is, of course, to honor the climate goals, the ambitious climate goals that India set, including particularly the expansion of renewables. And again, I point you to the very important commitments that Prime Minister Modi made at the COP26.
We are committed, for our part, to partnering in India’s clean energy transition, and this needs to be a partnership. We have a responsibility – a historic responsibility as well as a current responsibility – in trying to make sure that we’re helping to make available the technology, the financing, the support to help countries make that transition to adapt, to build resilience in dealing with climate change, and making sure that adequate supplies of energy are reaching their people.
There is a longstanding Strategic Clean Energy Partnership that is co-led by our Department of Energy and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in India. That is deepening cooperation on energy efficiency and next-generation fuels. And we have the Quad. We’ve got a working group on climate that’s partnering on green shipping corridors and on green technology. Here at the State Department, our own Energy Bureau has done a lot of work, including collaborative studies with Indian researchers on the most economical decarbonization pathways.
And finally, I’d just note our Development Finance Corporation just announced a $500 million loan to First Solar, which will produce solar panel modules in southern India, furthering climate goals, diversifying solar supply chains.
So in all these ways and more, we are working both to deal with the impact of the Russian aggression on energy but much more broadly with this combination of helping India meet its energy needs while advancing together the vital climate agenda that we share.
Moderator: Ryo Nakamura of Nikkei.
Question: Thank you very much for taking my question.
To Secretary Blinken: India plans to deploy S-400 missile defense system. Did you discuss this topic with your Indian counterparts today? Do you rule out the possibility of sanctioning India for its acquisition of S-400?
And to Secretary Austin, India is trying to diversify its procurement of military equipment and weapons by reducing reliance on Russia and purchasing more from other countries, including the United States. I am wondering what steps the Biden administration will take to help India accelerate their diversification effort. Is it an option for the United States to provide financial assistance to India to make U.S. systems more affordable?
To Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar: Russia has more and more aligned with China diplomatically, economically, and militarily. How much are you concerned about their alignment in terms of India’s national security? With that concern, do you think India has to reduce reliance on Russia economically and militarily as soon as possible? Thank you.
Blinken: I’m happy to start. So let me start by saying that we continue to urge all countries to avoid major new transactions for Russian weapons systems, particularly in light of what Russia is doing to Ukraine. We have not yet made a determination regarding potential sanctions or potential waivers under the CAATSA law.
But to come back to something I said a few moments ago, there is, of course, a long history and a long relationship between India and Russia, including when it comes to military equipment. That relationship took hold many years ago at a time when, as I said, we were not able to be a partner to India. And again, as I said, we are now both able and willing to be such a partner, to be a security partner of choice for India. That’s one of the areas that we discussed in some detail today.
Austin: On the issue of future systems, we are engaged in active discussions with India on how to best support their modernization needs. And again, as we look at the future, we want to make sure that we maintain the ability to operate together, and so we look forward to those continued discussions. And it also includes a range of options that would make our systems more affordable. So this is work that will continue going forward, and again, look forward to continuing to have them as a strong and reliable partner.
Jaishankar: This seems to be my day to get a lot of advice and suggestions from the press, so thank you for joining that. But look, we watch what’s happening in the world, like any country does, and we draw our conclusions and make our assessments. And believe me, we have a decent sense of what is in our interest and the know-how to protect it and advance it. So I think part of what has changed is we have more options than we did before.
Have a look at us today. We are standing here for a 2+2 with a substantial defence collaboration which has happened in the last decade, which we have been discussing how to take forward. And this wasn’t an option which was there for 40 years before that. So the world is changing. The world will keep changing. What we have to do in our profession is to watch it and see how your interests are best advanced in that.
And I just want to pick up on our – on the last – not this question but the previous question which Secretary Blinken answered on the energy side, which is given our energy security concerns – again, I don’t want this whole subject to go off at a – on a sort of a political note. Every country looks at its best options, and I think today an expanding India-U.S. energy relationship, which by the way didn’t exist some years ago – if my memory is right, you are the second-largest LNG supplier to India, I think the fourth or the fifth-largest crude oil supplier, a big partner in the renewable side, including the agreement which Secretary Blinken just mentioned.
So we have – there is so much more going on in the world today, and a large part of it is really to fully explore the opportunities between India and the United States.
Moderator: We’ll take a final question from Pranay Upadhyay, ABP News.
Question: Hello, ministers. My first question is direct to the defence ministers. (In Indian) major defence partnership agreement signed (In Indian).
(Via interpreter) My first – after signing the agreement, what is the roadmap and what is the conversation you have had? And from today’s (inaudible), how can the – security can be established by India and (inaudible)?
(In English) And my question to Secretary Austin: In the recent past, we have seen that the U.S. military supply to countries like Pakistan has been used against Indian interests. So when you say that the U.S. is ready to forge greater defence cooperation with India, how have you assured India of greater solidarity and safeguarding the Indian interest? And which are the critical and emerging technologies the U.S. is ready to offer India to strengthen India’s defence and security interests?
And to Secretary Austin, India’s neighbourhood right now is going through deep economic distress, especially in countries like Sri Lanka and other regions – other small countries in South Asia. How the U.S. is trying to cooperate with India to have greater stability in the region as far as the economic stability for – in the post-COVID world?
Jaishankar: (Via interpreter) I’m going to reply to this, and as you said, right now, that relationship between U.S. and India, I would like to say that there is a strategic relationship between the two countries and they are strategic partners. And I have insisted that India would focus on co-development of productions and all the investors should come to India. They are welcome. And because in India, they can develop the “Make in India” because we want to build and make everything in India.
Austin: We’re proud of the fact that today, India has in its inventory a number of platforms that have – we believe and I think my colleagues would affirm – that have performed very, very reliably. And so today, what we talked about was how we’re going to increase our sharing of information, how we’re going to deepen our cooperation in space and cyberspace. And again, I think space and cyberspace are two warfighting domains that we want to make sure we continue to develop our own capabilities, but also help our partners to develop capabilities.
And I think those are the types of things that I think will cause us to be dominant in any battlespace, so we really look forward to developing this relationship a lot more and also continuing to work on – together with our counterparts here, our colleagues, in high-end, complex operations. And that’s how really you strengthen that trust and then – and build on capability.
Blinken: And just on the challenges facing the region, this was very much a subject of our conversations today and an ongoing conversation. Let me say a couple (of)things about that.
First, we are trying to deal together with a number of the immediate crises that countries are facing around the world, but including in the Indo-Pacific, including some of India’s closest neighbours. When it comes to COVID-19, we’ve been working through the Quad partnership to effectively deliver hundreds of millions of doses of vaccine. We’re now deepening our work to make sure that we’re getting shots into arms, that we’re supporting health care workers, and that we are building strong supply chains both for the immediate challenge and going forward.
Similarly – we talked about this earlier – we’re very focused on the impact that the Russian aggression in Ukraine is having on food prices and food availability, and that affects countries in the region as well. India is looking – taking steps and looking at additional steps when it comes to making food stocks more widely available. We’re doing the same. We’re increasing financing to the World Food Program, the Food and Agriculture Organization. We’re looking at what we can do to incentivize the increased production of fertilizers so that even as we get beyond this year’s crops, as people are thinking about next year’s, yields can be sustained and won’t decrease, which would further interrupt supply and raise prices. So in all these areas, we’re collaborating together; similarly on energy, as we just discussed.
More broadly, one of the things that we’re talking about is an initiative that President Biden will launch in the weeks ahead, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. And there, working together with countries in the region, we can have a very positive effect and very positive impact on things like building supply chain resilience in ways that actually benefit the economies of countries in the region; on infrastructure investment, which is so needed and so critical, where India and the United States can work together; on making available green technology as part of that effort; building out global health security and the necessary infrastructure that goes with that; working together on digital trade, which is increasingly a part of the lives of people in all of our countries and has tremendous potential, including in a number of these neighbouring countries.
So in all these ways and more, we are working not only individually, but increasingly we’re working together to make sure that some of the benefits of the changing economy can be brought to these countries as well as helping them to deal with many of the challenges that we’re facing.
– global bihari bureau
