As the Obama Administration intensified its global effort to garner
support for Ukraine, the White House said it is looking at the international
community, including India, to condemn Russia's action.
Over the past few weeks, the top American leadership, including
President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John
Kerry, has been reaching out to its friends, allies and key global players
against the Russian action in the Crimean region of Ukraine.
Even as Russian President Vladimir Putin called Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh to explain his position on Ukraine, US officials would not tell the level
of its outreach with India; with whom the Obama Administration is building
strategic partnership.
But White House officials did indicate that the US wants India to
condemn the Russian military action in Crimea.
"We have been consulting closely
with our partners and allies in Europe and the G7 on
Ukraine but also with other nations around the world. I don't have any specific
conversations to read out for you with India, but obviously we are looking to
the entire international community to condemn Russia's action and to support
Ukraine," Laura Lucas Magnuson, spokesperson of the National Security
Council, told reporters.
Tanvi Madan, a fellow in the Foreign Policy program at the prestigious
Brookings Institution (a US think-tank), and director of the new India Project,
said the US might have preferred a more active Indian voice emphasizing respect
for territorial integrity, but India's overall reticence couldn't have been
surprising for anyone who knows India.
"India also refrained from
publicly criticizing the approach of the US and European Union before the
developments in Crimea, which it was not too pleased about either. India's stance
will disappoint some who would like to see India side more explicitly with the
west.
"But though many would hope that
India would be on the same page as the US on many issues, this administration
has stated in the past that it doesn't always expect India to agree with
it," Madan said.
Russian President Putin added Crimea to the map of Russia, describing
the move as correcting past injustice and responding to what he called Western
encroachment upon his country's vital interests.
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