World News: Biden will speak to Modi as US warns India on imports of Russian energy – Gulf Digital News

World News: Biden will speak to Modi as US warns India on imports of Russian energy – Gulf Digital News

President Joe Biden will meet virtually with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, the White House said, at a time when the United States has made clear it does not want to see an uptick in Russian energy imports by India.

"President Biden will continue our close consultations on the consequences of Russia's brutal war against Ukraine and mitigating its destabilizing impact on global food supply and commodity markets," Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement on Sunday.

Daleep Singh, U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser for International Economics, who visited India recently, said the United States will not set any "red line" for India on its energy imports from Russia but does not want to see a "rapid acceleration" in purchases. read more

Lured by steep discounts following Western sanctions on Russian entities, India has bought at least 13 million barrels of Russian crude oil since the country invaded Ukraine in late February. That compared with some 16 million barrels for the whole of last year, data compiled by Reuters shows.

This meeting will precede the "U.S.-India 2+2 Ministerial" meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, India External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and India Defense