Kyiv: As the war in Ukraine continued, Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar had spoken to the American Secretary of State Antony Blinken over the phone on war and also on Indo-Pacific and bilateral cooperation.

He held the talks a day ahead of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to India. Russia has been accused of waging war against Ukraine which has resulted in the death of thousands of people and millions have been displaced.

After the telephonic conversation, Jaishankar tweeted by saying “Just completed a useful conversation with @SecBlinken. Reviewed the progress on our bilateral cooperation. Discussed developments pertaining to the Indo-Pacific, Ukraine and the global economy".

It may be noted that both nations have been holding talks at regular intervals after the war broke out in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, American Deputy National Security Adviser Daleep Singh arrived in India on a two-day visit. Upon arrival, he held talks with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.

Singh is known to be the key architect in designing the US sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden recently made a veiled dig at India over its position on the crisis in Ukraine.

Biden said the world had launched a united front across Europe and the Pacific on the Russian attack on Ukraine with the “possible exception of India”. He said India had been “somewhat shaky” over the Russian invasion at the Quad as well.