India should step up, support sovereignty, territorial integrity: US NSA

I won't go too deep into the details of what Biden will say on those issues which are obviously sensitive and will obviously be critical priorities in the bilateral meeting, Jake Sullivan added

India should step up and support the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, US NSA Jake Sullivan said on Saturday, referring to the Russia-Ukraine war ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's bilateral meeting with President Joe Biden.

The war and Modi's recent visit to Ukraine is expected to figure prominently in the Modi-Biden bilateral meeting at the US president's Wilmington residence in Delaware on the margins of the Quad summit later in the day, the National Security Adviser said.

I won't go too deep into the details of what Biden will say on those issues which are obviously sensitive and will obviously be critical priorities in the bilateral meeting, he said in response to a question.

 

The United States has been clear about our view that Russia's brutal war of aggression against Ukraine flouted every norm and principle of international law, (and) that countries like India should step up and support the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, Sullivan added.

He also asserted that "every country everywhere should refrain from supplying inputs to Russia's war machine for it to be able to continue to prosecute this brutal war."

The President will also hear from Prime Minister Modi about his trip to Ukraine, which was an important and indeed historic trip, and it will be the opportunity for the two of them to talk about their respective views of the way forward, he said.

Modi visited Ukraine for a meeting with President Volodymr Zelenskyy in August.

Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin named India among the three countries he is constantly in touch over the Ukraine conflict and said they are sincerely making efforts to resolve it.

On China, Sullivan said the two leaders will talk about "how they see China's actions in the region, where China is headed", and added that it is not just in the security domain, but in the economic and technology domains as well.

Biden and Modi are likely to work to coordinate approaches to the extent that makes sense for both the countries, Sullivan said.