S Jaishankar's Message Reaffirms India's Stand On Ukraine War: White House

The US State Department on Tuesday said that the messages passed on to Moscow during External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar's recent visit to Russia are not dissimilar to what Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said earlier.

US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said, "The messages we heard from Foreign Minister Jaishankar in Russia were not dissimilar in some ways from what we heard from Prime Minister Modi at the United Nations, when he made it very clear that this is not an era of war."

"India reaffirms that it stands against this war (Russia-Ukraine war), it wants to see diplomacy, dialogue and an end to this war. It is important that the Russians hear that message from countries like India with economic, diplomatic, social and political might," added Mr Price.

Responding to India becoming the largest Russian oil customer after China, Mr Price said the US has had a number of high-level engagements with its Indian counterparts in recent weeks.

"When it comes to India's relationship with Russia, we've consistently made the point that it's a relationship that developed and was cemented over the course of decades, really came to be during the Cold War at a time when the United States was not in a position to be an economic partner, a security partner, a military partner to India."

However, Price said that US and India's relations have changed in the past 25 years.

"We have sought to deepen our partnership with India in every sector, including when it comes to economics, including when it comes to our security ties, including when it comes to our military cooperation as well," he added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)