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Ruling out the possibility of the war in Ukraine leading to stresses in the India-US bilateral relationship, external affairs minister S Jaishankar has said that both Delhi and Washington have the strength and comfort levels to deal with all issues, including issues on which there may be disagreements. The minister said that during their engagements this week, both India and the US were open and clear about their perspectives, and US policymakers were well-informed and aware of where India was coming from.
“There has been a huge change for the good, and that today really allows us to do much more with each other and engage each other in a different way than we would have done 10 or 20 years ago,” Jaishankar said about India-US ties, in an interaction with the media, at the end of the Washington leg of his US visit.
“I have been fairly open and clear about our positions and perspectives, and in all fairness, so have the Americans. Today, our relationship has the strength and comfort levels to discuss a lot of issues. We may not agree on all issues. But we have the strength and comfort to deal with that as well.”
Jaishankar also pointed out that there was a gap between what was happening between India and the US at the policy-level and the discourse in the public narrative on the Ukraine issue.
Suggesting that relationships with countries don’t appear instantaneously and aren’t susceptible to immediate solutions or changes, he pointed to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken recognising the history of the India-Russia relations. “My sense from these discussions was that people in the administration, people dealing with policy, are well-informed. They understand where India is coming from. I will honestly say that the public narrative is very, very different. There is a gap between policy and narrative, and how do we narrow that and how do we bridge it is something we are focused on.”
He added that, at the same time, India was very clear about its interests, confident about speaking on them, and did not feel any reason to be defensive about it.
India and the US, the minister said, shared their political, diplomatic and strategic assessments of the situation in Ukraine and its fallout, discussed the consequences of the war, and ways in which India – which enjoys good relations with all the actors engaged in the conflict – can help with the goal of cessation of hostilities, which, according to the minister, should be the focus at the moment. It was India’s intent to help, Jaishankar said, for the conflict was hurting everyone.
During the talks, India and the US also discussed developments in the Indo-Pacific, including the progress since the Quad leaders-summit in September and preparations for the summit this summer; the US shared its assessment of the Iran nuclear talks with India; and India and the US discussed developments in Sri Lanka, Pakistan Afghanistan, Nepal, Myanmar.
On Monday, Jaishankar held a bilateral engagement with Blinken, attended the virtual conversation between President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the White House, participated in the 2+2 dialogue, and then attended a dinner hosted by Blinken. Jaishankar, separately, also met the US national security advisor Jake Sullivan, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, and commerce secretary Gina Raimondo on Tuesday, besides participating in an interaction with Blinken at Howard University.
“A lot of our time went to the situation in Ukraine. The US side presented its perspective, their analysis, their sense of what they think is likely to happen – on the conflict and diplomacy involved in it, peace talks and progress or lack of progress were one set of issues that came up. The Ukraine conflict has also had a very direct impact on the global economy. And many of those are very strong concerns because they impact everyday life, not just for us but everyone else. So we discussed the energy situation, food security, and what could be done.”
He said that issues revolving around the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, what all countries were doing, India’s own role, including its supply of medicines on the request of the Ukrainians, was also discussed.
When asked if the US had any specific asks with regard to mediation efforts, Jaishankar said there was no specific message or communication which was suggested. “The Ukraine situation worries everybody and has consequences for most people. So there is a natural interest in the international community to say what can we do to help ease the situation, hopefully sort the situation.”
This, Jaishankar pointed out, had been a persistent theme in PM Narendra Modi’s engagements with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders and been part of India’s policy articulation. “I would say our discussions with the Americans was more about what is it we can all do to, first of all, encourage an early cessation of hostilities. That is where we believe the focus should be. And we do think a large part of the international community and many other countries, some of whom have also taken very active interest, think along very similar lines.”
On the current state of peace talks, Jaishankar said that Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov had briefed him on peace talks during his visit to India last month, and India had now heard the American perspectives on it.
Refusing to get dragged into who was serious, to what degree, on what issue in peace talks, the minister said, “What we sort of bring to the process is goodwill of having relations with multiple parties, with Russia, Ukraine, Europe, America and many of the neighbours of Russia and Ukraine. Our intent is to be helpful. It is good for the world, for these countries, and for us from a national interest perspective because we are all hurting.”
Harsh V Pant of Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation said the 2+2 dialogue took place at a time when headlines had been relatively negative, and largely focused on the differences between India and the US on Ukraine.
“What the dialogue shows is that increasingly what we see in this relationship is a certain maturity, where both India and the US are beginning to engage with each other as mature partners. There won’t be convergence every time, but there is an attempt to find solutions and navigate those differences skillfully. You won’t always agree with your friends but you have a way to sort it out,” he said.
Pant said the fact that the dialogue not only took place, but was elevated from 2+2 to 3+3 with Modi and Biden participating, indicated the effort both sides are putting in to craft a relationship to meet the challenge of our times. “The ability to transcend differences and arrive at mutually acceptable solutions is beginning to grow as the relationship gets institutionalised and engagement deepens,” he said.
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