The fourth India-US ‘2+2’ dialogue in Washington was led on the Indian side by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and their US counterparts Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony J Blinken.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden held a virtual meeting ahead of the fourth India-US ‘2+2’ dialogue in Washington. The virtual meeting comes at unease in Washington over India’s stance on the Ukraine crisis and its decision to buy discounted Russian oil. In his speech, Biden addressed the strong India-US defence partnership, stressing that the two countries will “continue to consult closely on managing the destabilising effects of this Russian war.” “Our talks today come at a time when the situation in Ukraine is still very worrying. Until a few weeks ago, there were more than 20,000 Indians stranded in Ukraine. Most of them were young students,” Modi said.

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At the meeting, Modi also talked about India’s humanitarian aid to Ukraine. “We also value the safety of Ukrainian civilians and the uninterrupted humanitarian assistance to them, which you just mentioned at the beginning,” Modi said. “We have delivered medicines and medicines to Ukraine and its neighbours on our behalf of other relief supplies. As requested by Ukraine, we will soon be shipping another shipment of medicines.” The prime minister also referred to Biden’s slogan that “democracies can deliver” initially. Following the Modi-Biden virtual meeting, there has been a significant shift in the US attitudes toward India’s energy imports from Russia, with the US saying it was not banned and New Delhi not violating US sanctions.