PM Modi with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Moscow.
US expresses disappointment with PM Modi’s Moscow visit’s symbolism and timing but acknowledges his stance on war and empathy for Ukraine
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Russia has unsurprisingly received a mixed reception in the United States. Some critics call it New Delhi’s “Moscow miscalculation,” while others see it as India asserting its “strategic autonomy.”
The issue of Modi’s Moscow trip arose this week during a hearing at the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs, where a top White House official in the Biden administration noted that the visit was high on symbolism but lacked major deliverables.
“I could not agree with you more about our disappointment about the symbolism and the timing of Prime Minister Modi’s trip to Moscow. We are having those tough conversations with our Indian friends,” Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu told American lawmakers at a Congressional hearing on Tuesday.
US State Department official Donald Lu says,“Disappointed with the symbolism & the timing” of PM Modi’s visit to Russia; Having “tough conversation” with Indians on that”
फट के फातिमा बन गई हे. इसी लिए बकलोली कर रहे.
Modi is not your slave pic.twitter.com/8gpuPUUaIl
— Halesh Singh (@HaleshSingh) July 24, 2024
‘No new major defense deals’
Lu acknowledged Modi’s meetings with Zelensky at the G7 Summit sidelines and his statement to Putin on war tactics. “Then we were looking very carefully at what Modi did when he was in Moscow. We did not see any new major defense deals. We saw no major discussion of technology cooperation. In addition, you have Modi having said in front of Putin on live television, his feeling that the war in Ukraine could not be won on the battlefield and the pain that he felt watching the death of children in war,” Lu said.
Modi’s televised remarks on the futility of battlefield victories and his empathy for children killed in Kyiv bombings are concerning.” Representative Joe Wilson of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs expressed shock over Modi’s embrace of Putin on the day missiles hit a children’s hospital. Wilson praised Modi’s leadership but noted previous US concerns about the visit.
This hearing came as US officials, including State and White House spokespeople, Ambassador Eric Garcetti, and NSA Jake Sullivan, have raised concerns about Modi’s Moscow visit. Despite criticism over Modi and Putin’s public displays, Modi’s remarks on humanitarian issues have been noted and appreciated in Washington. Earlier this month, PM Modi told Putin “Be it war, conflicts, terror attacks – everyone who believes in humanity is pained when there is loss of lives. But when innocent children are murdered, when we see innocent children dying, it is heart-wrenching. That pain is immense.”