While assuring that the Western nations and allied partners are putting up a united front against Russian aggression in Ukraine, Biden said that India—a member of the Indo-Pacific Quad—was "a bit shaky" when it came to dealing with Putin. This comes amid the US constantly nudging Indian to turn against Russia, a time-tested partner and an ally of historical significance.
"The one thing I am confident, knowing Putin fairly well, as well as I, guess another leader can know one another, is that he was counting on being able to split NATO. He never thought NATO would stay resolved, stay totally thoroughly united. And I can assure you, NATO has never been stronger or more united in its entire history than it is today, in large part, because of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin," Biden told a business roundtable of CEOs on Monday.
"But in response to his aggression, we presented a united front throughout NATO and in the Pacific. The QUAD is, with the possible exception of India being somewhat shaky on some of this, but Japan has been extremely strong, so is Australia, in terms of dealing with Putin's aggression," said the Biden said.
India's relationship with Russia revolves more around defense than energy. Russia provides only a small fraction of India's oil but the majority of its military hardware. The White House has publicly warned China against siding with Russia during the war in Ukraine, but it has been more circumspect when addressing India's role. Russia has long been a point of friction in US-India relations, but the White House believes the two democracies have more that's in common than that divides them. India is a member of the Quad, an international partnership that also includes the US, Australia and Japan, and the leaders of all four nations are slated to meet this year in Tokyo.
On the previous day, when asked about India considering buying discounted Russian oil, Psaki said the US message to “any country” is to “think about where you want to stand when the history books are written". Imports make up 85 per cent of India's oil needs, and its overall demand is projected to jump 8.2 per cent to 5.15 million barrels per day this year.
