U.S. Warns Of ‘Consequences’; India Calls Out Hypocrisy, Talks ‘Concerns, Cooperation’ With Lavrov

NEW DELHI: On ‘Talking Point‘, Ambassador P.S. Raghavan, Former Head of India’s National Security Advisory Board and Ex-Envoy to Russia and Seema Sirohi, Columnist at ‘The Economic Times’ in analysis with StratNews Global Associate Editor Amitabh P. Revi.

The panel discusses the U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor for international economics, Deputy Director of the National Economic Council and one of the architects of the current sanctions regime, Daleep Singh’s media briefing, warning of “consequences” to countries that “actively attempt to circumvent sanctions”, though he also stressed, “friends don’t set red lines. Ahead of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s meetings in the capital, Mr Singh also told journalists, “I don’t think anyone would believe that if China once again breached the Line of Actual Control, Russia would come running in India’s defence. Earlier, after meeting a third UN P-5 member country’s representative, External Affairs Minister(EAM) Dr S. Jaishankar called out the west’s hypocrisy on Russian oil and gas at the first India-UK Strategic Futures Forum discussion with British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss. Following a beeline to Delhi of top officials, the EAM in his opening remarks at meeting a Russian delegation headed by Lavrov noted “bilateral relations have continued to grow in many areas and we have diversified our cooperation by expanding our agenda” but he also pointed out the “meeting takes place in a difficult international environment” where discussion took place on “contemporary issues and concerns in some detail.” Lavrov also met PM Narendra Modi with a message from President Vladimir Putin. The panel also analyses U.S. led sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the India-Russia and India-U.S. strategic partnerships, the Russia-China ‘no limits’ relationship and the changing geo-political order.