India, US discuss COVID, global issues |
US deputy secretary of state, Wendy Sherman spoke to Indian foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Jan 19 on a range of global and bilateral issues. In a tweet, Indian external affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that Shringla had a “wide-ranging telecon” with Sherman. They reviewed, among other issues, “upcoming bilateral engagements and the Covid pandemic, including supply of vaccines, and exchanged views on Indo-Pacific, Middle East, UNSC, India`s neighborhood, etc.” The conversation between Sherman who has been a key figure in talks with Russia and met her Russian counterparts in Geneva and Brussels last week and Shringla comes a day after the White House warned that Russia could launch an attack on Ukraine “at any point”. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Kiev where he reassured Ukraine of US support and is scheduled to travel to Germany to discuss a “unified response” to Russia`s actions with European allies and partners. He is also meeting his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov last week in Geneva to find common ground. The US has maintained that Russian de-escalation along Ukraine`s borders must be the first step to defusing the crisis, while Russia has sought broader guarantees on European security, including a commitment to limit NATO`s expansion and membership. For India, which enjoys a close strategic partnership with both US and Russia, the renewed tension between the two countries has been a matter of concern. This is particularly important at a time when New Delhi is hoping that the Joe Biden administration would waive off sanctions that would otherwise apply to India under the Countering America`s Adversaries through Sanctions Act for its acquisition of S-400 missile systems from Russia.
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