Asked repeatedly whether Biden urged India's Narendra Modi to take a harder line against Russia during their virtual meeting today, an administration official said that discussions focused on what India could do to mitigate damaging effects of the war.
In opening remarks ahead of a closed-door meeting, Biden welcomed India's pledge to send humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and said the two sides would "continue our close consultation on how to manage the destabilizing effects of this Russian war."
Modi said he had spoken several times with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and proposed direct talks between the two leaders. Modi condemned the civilian killings in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha and called for an "independent investigation," without explicitly naming Russian forces as the perpetrators.Asked repeatedly whether Biden urged Modi behind closed doors to take a harder line against Russia, a senior administration official told reporters that discussions focused mostly on what India could do to mitigate food supply shocks and other destabilizing effects of the war.
"There was no concrete ask or concrete answer, but the leaders were able to step back and have a pretty detailed and candid exchange of views," the official said.Between the lines: The official also suggested that Modi has "concerns" about China's support for Russia, given that India and China are currently engaged in a tense border dispute along the mountainousModi and Biden's relatively brief meeting kicked off a day of talks between Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and their Indian counterparts, marking the first time the U.S. and India have met in that format since the Biden presidency began.
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