India’s security pledge with US shows limits of common Russia stand with China: analysts

Both China and India have rejected Western calls to condemn Moscow’s aggression

India wants to stay neutral on Russia, but it is not neutral on the US strategy to contain China, observer notes

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US President Joe Biden (centre) at the White House with (from left) US defence chief Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Indian defence minister Rajnath Singh and foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 9:46pm, 12 Apr 2022Updated: 10:40pm, 12 Apr 2022

India’s recent pledge to boost security ties with the US has underlined the limits of China’s efforts to narrow differences with its South Asian neighbour despite a similar stance on Russia’s war in Ukraine, Chinese observers said.

This comes as the US and India pledged deeper military interoperability and intelligence sharing to increase their influence in the Indo-Pacific region, despite their divergent positions on condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, after meeting Indian defence and foreign ministers for the latest “2+2” bilateral dialogue in Washington on Monday, made it clear that the two sides were brought together by their belief that China posed a threat to the “international system” supported by Washington and Delhi.

The US has also been seeking India’s close participation in its Indo-Pacific strategy, largely perceived as aiming to align America’s regional allies to contain China’s influence.

However, India’s neutral stance on Russia’s military actions in Ukraine has proved to be a sticking point. In a virtual meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of Monday’s 2+2 talks, US President Joe Biden expressed his frustration about New Delhi’s refusal to condemn the Russian invasion, while asking that it stop buying Russian oil and gas.

Both China and India have so far rejected Western calls to denounce Moscow’s aggression, and were among more than 30 countries that abstained from UN General Assembly votes on resolutions blaming Russia for the escalating humanitarian crisis in Ukraine following the invasion in late February.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited India late last month in what was the highest-level exchange between the two countries since deadly clashes on their disputed Himalayan border clouded ties in 2020.

The visit appeared to have covered de-escalation of the border conflict, with the two sides agreeing that it was “in the common interest of both countries to restore peace and tranquillity in the border areas”, according to the Chinese readout.