President Biden will be having a virtual meeting today with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss bilateral relations, and specifically, India's self-serving failure to take a hard line against Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine. In votes in the United Nations, India has abstained from actions that would punish Russia for the invasion, despite pressure from the U.S. and its allies. India is also receiving both Russian oil shipments and is a major client for Russia's arms industry going back decades when its foreign policy tilted decidedly toward the Soviet Union. Neutral nations like Sweden, Finland and Switzerland have all imposed some level of sanctions on Russia, but India has declined to do so, even in the face of documented, horrific war crimes against the Ukrainian population.
Ironically, India is aligned with the U.S. as a member of the "Quad," the group including the U.S., Japan and Australia seeking to counter the expansion of China in the Southeast Asia region, despite China having moved closer to Russia over the Ukrainian war. It's only one example of India's separation from the other Quad members on a variety of issues, which begs the question, with friends like this, who needs enemies? We'll see if India has a change in attitude following today's discussion, but we're not optimistic.
BONUS: Meanwhile, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer met with Russian war criminal Putin in Moscow in what he described as an unfriendly meeting, discussing the war crimes being committed in Ukraine. Well done Chancellor.
