Top US diplomat says, US expects India to become more engaged with Ukraine

By R Anil Kumar

• US Expects India to Increase Engagement with Ukraine, says Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell

• US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told a Senate committee that India wants to play a very responsible global role

• The State Department has raised concerns over India’s relationship with Russia, especially at a time when the US has been seeking to strengthen ties with India as a potential counterweight to an ascendant China.

• During his talks with Putin on July 9, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had told him that a solution to the Ukraine conflict is not possible on the battlefield and peace efforts do not succeed amid bombs and bullets

WASHINGTON, August 1. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said on July 30 that he expects word soon that India is becoming more engaged with Ukraine, responding to a question at a Senate hearing over Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Moscow visit in July.

“I think we’re likely to hear news of India engaging more directly with Ukraine. I’m grateful for that. I think India wants to play a responsible role globally,” Campbell told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

There are very few other countries in the world that have such an appeal to the Global South. And India’s ability to engage there is unmatched and we are seeking to work with them there in Africa and elsewhere, Campbell told the lawmakers.

These remarks were made by Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell during a hearing on US-China Competitiveness Beyond the Indo-Pacific on Tuesday July 30, amidst indications that Prime Minister Narendra Modi may visit Kyiv later this month against the backdrop of renewed global efforts to end Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Western countries have imposed sanctions on Moscow following its all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but “friendly” nations such as India and China have continued to trade.

PM Modi had met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in July just as a Russian missile struck a hospital in Kyiv, killing 44 people and drawing international condemnation.

Indian media outlets have reported that Modi is likely to visit Ukraine in August, his first visit to the country since Russia’s 2022 invasion.

Asked about Campbell’s comments, India’s Washington embassy referred to a news briefing in Tokyo on July 29 by Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, at which he said more needed to be done to encourage negotiations to end the Ukraine conflict and that India was one of the few countries that was in touch with both sides.

“We do believe we should be more active there,” EAM Jaishankar said, adding that Modi met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the G-7 summit in Italy before his Moscow visit.

“I can reasonably expect there will be more contacts between us and Ukraine and between us and Russia as well,” Jaishankar said, when asked about the possibility of Modi visiting Ukraine.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Jaishankar in Japan on July 28 and emphasised the importance of a “just and enduring peace” for Ukraine.

The State Department has raised concerns over India’s relationship with Russia, especially at a time when the US has been seeking to strengthen ties with India as a potential counterweight to an ascendant China.

New Delhi has resisted pressure to distance itself from Moscow since the invasion, citing its longstanding ties with Russia and its economic needs.

Campbell said he believed India was “probably the most important relationship for the United States to get right,” noting the huge Indian diaspora and the desire of most Indians to have a better relationship with the US.

“The hardest things to keep in mind is that India is also a great power. It has its own beliefs, its own interests. They will never be a formal ally or partner in the United States, but it doesn’t mean that we cannot have the strongest of possible relationships as allied nations on the global stage,” Campbell said.