The US official met with his Indian counterpart at a gathering of the so-called โQuadโ nations โ Australia, India, Japan and the US โ in Tokyo on Sunday. During the discussion, Blinken โunderscored the importance of realizing a just and enduring peace for Ukraine consistent with the UN Charterโ, the State Department announced.
The meeting came ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modiโs proposed visit to Ukraine later this month, the details of which are currently being finalized, according to an official cited by The Hindu daily newspaper.
The trip is seen as an attempt to balance New Delhiโs ties with the West, which was reportedly frustrated by Modiโs meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow earlier this month. Russia was chosen as Modiโs first bilateral visit after he assumed office for a third term.
After the meeting with Blinken, Jaishankar noted on X (formerly Twitter) that bilateral ties are progressing โsteadilyโ, but did not mention Ukraine.
The Ukraine conflict did feature in a joint statement released after the Quad foreign ministersโ meeting in Tokyo, which expressed โdeepest concernโ over the hostilities and their โterrible and tragic humanitarian consequences”.
The โQuadโ is an informal grouping largely seen as a Washington-led initiative aimed at balancing Chinaโs influence in the Indo-Pacific.
India has so far refused to condemn Russia or downgrade ties over the Ukraine conflict, despite pressure from the West. Jaishankar has repeatedly stated that New Delhi aims to balance its ties with both the West and Moscow, also stressing that peace can be achieved through dialogue and diplomacy. Last month, New Delhi refused to sign the final document of a Swiss-hosted โpeace summitโ on Ukraine, to which Russia was not invited.
During his visit to Moscow, Modi again stressed that there is no โpeace on the battlefieldโ and that solutions โcan only be found through dialogue”.
Ukraineโs President Vladimir Zelensky reacted angrily to Modiโs meeting with Putin, which he described as a โdevastating blow to peace effortsโ. New Delhi reportedly summoned the Ukrainian ambassador over the remarks.
Modiโs visit to Russia came under similar scrutiny in Washington. US State Department official Donald Lu told a congressional hearing last week that the White House had been disappointed by the โsymbolismโ and โtimingโ of Modiโs visit. Senior officials in the administration of President Joe Biden were also โfrustratedโ that the visit coincided with a NATO 75th anniversary summit in the US capital, the Washington Post reported.
Responding to the criticism, New Delhi told the West to recognize the reality of multipolarity, and that countries have โfreedom of choiceโ in terms of their engagements on the global stage.