US, allies accept India's 'neutral stance' on Russian invasion

The United States, Japan, and Australia accept India's neutral stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to comments by Australian high commissioner to India Barry O’Farrell on Sunday.

The four states are part of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, commonly known as the Quad, which aims to counter China’s increasing economic and military influence in the Asia-Pacific region. India is the only member of the alliance that has not directly condemned Moscow’s brutal invasion of Ukraine. 

Here's Australian High Commissioner to India @AusHCIndia on this subject. He told Indian media that all Quad countries have "accepted" India's position on Russia/Ukraine and that Australia is satisfied that Modi has pressed Putin to end the conflict 2/ pic.twitter.com/X4nvKDcGEE

— Stephen Dziedzic (@stephendziedzic) March 21, 2022

“The Quad countries have accepted India’s position. We understand that each country has bilateral relationships,” O’Farrell told a media briefing, as reported by the Hindustan Times.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior diplomats have said they spoke to their counterparts in Russia “to call for the end of the conflict and no country will be unhappy with that”, he added.

New Delhi has opted a cautious approach to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, refusing to directly condemn the Kremlin’s actions but calling for an end to the violence. 

India was recently offered discounted oil from Russia as Moscow's bid to circumvent crushing sanctions on its economy - an offer which New Delhi reportedly accepted last week.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the move does not violate international sanctions against Russia, but warned New Delhi not to be "on the wrong side of history".

India has repeatedly been urged by western nations, especially the United States, to stop importing Russian goods and openly condemn its aggression in Ukraine. 

Russia’s invasion has so far destroyed dozens of settlements across Ukraine, killed thousands of people, and forced at least three million people to flee their homes.

Moscow’s forces have been accused of committing atrocities across Ukraine, most recently in the port of Mariupol where the recent attack has been described as a “war crime” by both the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the EU’s foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell.