India 'somewhat shaky' on punishing Russia for invasion of Ukraine: Biden

Washington [US], March 22 (ANI)

US President Joe Biden on Monday (local time) said that India, an exception among US major allies, "has been somewhat shaky" on the Western sanctions punishing Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking at the Business Roundtable's CEO Quarterly Meeting on Monday, referring to how unified Washington Allies have been in isolating President Putin, Biden stated, "...The Quad is, with the possible exception of India being somewhat shaky on some of this, but Japan has been extremely strong -- so has Australia -- in terms of dealing with Putin's aggression." Biden in his remarks asserted that Putin didn't anticipate how unified NATO and western allies would be in a global response to his invasion of Ukraine.

At a virtual Quad conference earlier this month, leaders of Australia, Japan and U.S. denounced Russia's invasion. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated "the need to return to a path of dialogue and diplomacy."

India is the only member of the QUAD that has not condemned Russia's invasion. All member countries of the QUAD barring India have also slapped significant sanctions on Russia.

India has abstained from key United Nations votes on the crisis, calling instead for an "immediate cessation of violence" and a return to dialogue.

Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions, Donetsk and Luhansk as independent republics followed by the announcement of a "special military operation" to "demilitarize" and "denazify" Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the Western nations have strongly condemned the Russian military operation and have boosted the sanctions pressure on Moscow.