WASHINGTON: India Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday that India's stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict was based on security concerns in its own backyard, and that the US should recognise that while it has a friend in India, that "friend can't be a weak friend (and) the friend should not be weakened."
During her current interaction with the United States for the World Bank Group's Spring Meetings, the Union Minister stated she found that understanding in her interactions.
Over a luncheon sponsored by the Indian Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, she met numerous US officials on the sidelines, including National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and other authorities.
"India clearly wants to be a friend, but if the United States likewise wants to be a friend, the friend can't be a weak friend, and the friend shouldn't be weakened," Sitharaman said during a fresh press conference to wrap up her visit.
"So we're making decisions, making calls, and taking calibrated stances because, given the geographical locational realities, we need to be strong where we are," she said. These challenges included "friction" along the northern border with China that persisted despite the Covid-19 outbreak, a "constantly at odds" western border with Pakistan, and the influx into India of military materiel sent to Afghanistan for counter-terrorism operations, according to her.
The US has pressed India to take a stronger stance against Russia's invasion of Ukraine and to halt or reduce trade connections, particularly in the energy sector. A senior member of the US National Security Council even threatened India with "consequences."
India has expressed its dissatisfaction with the invasion by not openly condemning it and by abstaining on two votes in the UN Security Council.
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