All countries have 'freedom of choice': India on US criticism over Modi-Putin bonhomie in Russia

New Delhi: All countries have freedom of choice in a multipolar world, New Delhi reminded Washington DC after a senior diplomat of the United States stated that President Joe Biden’s administration was disappointed about the symbolism and timing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

New Delhi asked Washington DC to appreciate the realities of India’s long-standing relations with Russia and its freedom of choice.

The exchange of words between New Delhi and Washington DC took place just days before External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's visit to Tokyo where he would have a bilateral meeting with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sideline of a meeting of the Quad.

“I could not agree with you more about our disappointment about the symbolism and the timing of Prime Minister Modi's trip to Moscow. We are having those tough conversations with our Indian friends,” Donald Lu, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia at the US State Department, said while deposing before the Subcommittee on Indo-Pacific of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the American House of Representatives.

New Delhi reacted sharply to the comments by the US diplomat in Washington DC. “India has a long-standing relationship with Russia that is based on mutuality of interests. In a multipolar world, all countries have the freedom of choice. It is essential for everybody to be mindful of and appreciate such realities,” Randhir Jaiswal, the spokesperson of the MEA, said.

Modi landed in Moscow on July 8 – the day the Russian Army launched a series of missile strikes on Kyiv and even targeted the hospital, where children suffering from cancer undergo treatment. He drove to the Russian President’s dacha in the Novo-Ogaryovo suburb of Moscow for a private dinner later in the day. As Putin received Modi with a hug, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his disappointment on X.

During another meeting on July 9, the Prime Minister subtly conveyed his pain over the killing of children in conflict zones to the Russian President.

““I assure you maybe if I could just take a moment to put into context that visit. Prime Minister Modi, two weeks before he went to Moscow, also saw President Zelenskyy on the margins of the G7 summit in Italy,” he said.

“Then we were looking very carefully at what Modi did when he was in Moscow. We did not see any new major defence deals. We saw no major discussion of technology cooperation. In addition, you have Modi having said in front of Putin on live television, his feeling that the war in Ukraine could not be won on the battlefield and the pain that he felt watching the death of children in war,” Lu said.

“A clear reference to the bombing of the children's hospital in Kyiv that happened while he was there. I share your concern about this visit, sir, and we are trying very hard to communicate those concerns directly to the Indians,” said the US official.