“Let me say that all of us have been working to urge India to take a clear position, a position opposed to Russia’s actions. But what have we seen so far? We have seen a number of abstentions,” Lu said.
“Over the course of months now, but culminating in this past week, we can already see an evolution in some of India’s public position… I had several conversations with Indian officials in the past 24 hours,” he said.
“We have seen an interesting evolution in the past couple of days. India at the UN called for all states to abide by the UN Charter to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other states; a very clear reference to Russia’s violation of the UN Charter and Ukraine’s sovereignty,” Lu claimed.
Testifying before Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism on the issue of “India-US relationship”, Lu told lawmakers that America’s relationship with India is one of the defining partnerships that will determine the security of Asia, of the US and of the world. “It’s a relationship that we have to get right.”
While reminding the lawmakers of the traditional and historic relationship that India has with Russia, the American diplomat said that since 2011, India has reduced its arms imports from Russia by 53% and increased its defence purchases from the US and other partners as well as increasing its own domestic production capability.
At the same time, US defence sales to India have grown to over $20 billion and India is considering purchasing an additional six P-8 maritime surveillance aircraft for $2.1 million, he explained. The majority of defence systems acquired by India over the past decade have been from the US and Europe, he said.
