The News
The United States needs to manage its relationship with India to ensure the world’s largest democracy plays on “team America” as opposed to China or Russia, a U.S. congressman said at Semafor’s World Economy Summit on Wednesday.
Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), a member of the newly created U.S. House committee focused on competition with China, said it is a “disappointment” that India has been importing “huge amounts of Russian oil” and ignoring price cap sanctions.
And he expressed worry that India — which is set to become the world’s most populous country — is becoming more aligned with China, despite conflict between the two countries along their Himalayan border.
“They should be on Team America ... I’m worried that they won’t be,” Auchincloss said. “At the very least they’ll be an aggravating third party factor.”
Step Back
The Times of India wrote last month that India’s relationship with China “has been marked by a growing level of economic cooperation,” with India acting as one of China’s most important trading partners.
Meanwhile, both nations have refrained from criticizing Russia over its invasion of Ukraine while retaining their economic ties and deviating from the West’s response to Russia.