Daleep Singh Before Lavrov: The Biden administration is sending Deputy National Security Adviser Daleep Singh, its primary strategist on sanctions on Russia over the crisis in Ukraine, to India this week, just ahead of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s arrival. Mr. Singh is scheduled to arrive in Delhi on Thursday for meetings, while Mr. Lavrov will meet with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and other officials on Friday after returning from a conference on Afghanistan in Beijing.
Lavrov is expected to visit India on Friday
Mr. Lavrov will meet with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and other officials on Friday after returning from a conference on Afghanistan in Beijing. The visit of the US Deputy National Security Advisor coincides with that of British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who will hold meetings at South Block and speak at a think tank event with Mr. Jaishankar on Thursday. It also comes amid a flurry of visits by a number of countries, including China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is keen to discuss India’s position on the Ukraine crisis.
Mr. Singh is in Delhi one week after US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland visited for talks on the Ukraine situation, and ahead of the India-US “2+2” Foreign and Defense Ministerial Consultations in Washington in mid-April.
An influx of visitors is expected
When asked if the Deputy National Security Advisor’s visit, which has yet to be disclosed, was scheduled to avoid conversations with Mr. Lavrov, an official said Mr. Singh’s travel plans were “decided before the news about the Russian Foreign Minister arose.” However, the number of visitors to the Ministry of External Affairs and the National Security Council in the last month has been unprecedented, with the US’s European and Quad partners, Japan and Australia, making public comments about Russia and indicating clearly that they hoped to change India’s position, where it has abstained at the United Nations on Ukraine resolutions and is now working on payment mechanisms to mitigate the impact of Western sanctions.
Mr. Lavrov’s travel to Delhi, as The Hindu reported earlier this week, is scheduled to update the government on Russia’s actions in Ukraine, the peace talks, and the Russian offer of discounted oil for India, which the administration is understood to be strongly considering. A team from Russia’s Central Bank is also in India this week to discuss payment mechanisms involving Indian and Russian banks, as well as Rupee-Ruble transactions, in order to avoid the growing number of sanctions imposed by the European Union, the United States, and partners, totaling more than 40 countries.
Gabriele Visentin, the European Union’s special envoy for the Indo-Pacific, met with the Ministry of External Affairs on Monday and discussed the EU’s “strategic compass,” as well as the EU’s demand for support for its common stand against Russia.
‘Unhappy’ EU
Mr. Visentin told The Hindu that the EU was “not pleased” with India’s abstention votes and that while the EU couldn’t tell New Delhi what to do, it “wouldn’t welcome any act that would help Russia circumvent the US, its partners, and the EU’s sanctions regime.” Mr. Visentin donned a blue and yellow ribbon in sympathy with Ukraine throughout the ongoing war, and the EU Mission in South Delhi flies a banner symbolizing the Ukrainian flag colors of blue and yellow.
Mr. Singh, who was recently named Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs by US President Joe Biden, has been responsible for developing and executing US sanctions against Russia and is likely to reaffirm the message provided by EU and UK officials.
So far, the sanctions have included financial bans on Kremlin-connected banks, organizations, and persons, as well as targeted sanctions targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin, his Cabinet, and members of the Duma (Parliament). Mr. Singh, a 46-year-old economic analyst who previously worked in former President Barack Obama’s Treasury Department, has previously worked on sanctions on Russia, including in 2014 after Russia took Crimea.