India Driving Force of Quad, It is a like-minded partner in South Asia: Says White House
New Delhi: In the middle of rising tension at the Russia-Ukraine border, the White House on Monday said that “India is a like-minded partner of the US in South Asia. India driving force of QUAD.”
“We will continue to build strategic partnerships, in which US and India work together to promote stability in South Asia. Collaborate in new domains such as health, space, cyberspace, deepen our economic and technology cooperation, contribute to a free and open Indo Pacific,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
The Quad or Quadrilateral Security Dialogue comprises India, the US, Japan, and Australia. During the Melbourne summit, foreign ministers of the countries had discussed the destabilizing role of China in the Indo-Pacific region and Russian aggression in Ukraine.
“It was an opportunity to discuss Russia’s ongoing threat to Ukraine. They discussed the threat that Russia’s aggression poses not only to Ukraine but to the entire international rules-based order, which has provided a foundation for decades of shared security and prosperity for the region and around the globe,” she said about the Melbourne meeting.
The White House refrained from responding to a question on the recent remarks by the Indian minister that India only abides by the multilateral sanctions and does not follow sanctions imposed by individual countries.
Meanwhile, Blinken announced that the US is in the process of temporarily relocating its Embassy operations in Ukraine from our Embassy in Kyiv to Lviv due to the dramatic acceleration in the buildup of Russian forces.
“We urge any remaining US citizens to leave Ukraine immediately,” he said, amid reports of an imminent invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
(_Vinayak)
