The U.S. and India — democracies and friends — agree to disagree on the Ukraine war

The U.S. and India — democracies and friends — agree to disagree on the Ukraine war

Transcript¹

India, the world's largest democracy, has not yet condemned³ Russia's invasion of Ukraine — and the U.S. wants to change that.

President Biden tried to lobby for India's support during a virtual summit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense⁴ Secretary Lloyd Austin met with their Indian counterparts.

Here's what to know about the context and takeaways from those discussions.

Why has India remained neutral so far?

Modi condemned the civilian⁵ killings⁶ in Ukraine on Monday, but didn't say who was responsible.

On the one hand, India shares democratic values with the U.S. On the other hand, India doesn't always trust the West. India has a colonial past, it was nonaligned during the Cold War, and it wants to make its own decisions. And it also buys a lot of weapons, fertilizer and oil from Russia.

It's also worried that if it alienates⁷ Russia, it could push Russia closer to China.

What is the U.S. doing to try to change India's stance?

A U.S. deputy national security adviser⁸ visited India a few weeks ago and warned of consequences for countries that circumvent⁹ Western sanctions on Russia. But the White House is also careful to say it respects India's decisions and doesn't want to tell it what to do.

In their public comments yesterday, Biden and Modi spoke¹⁰ about friendship and shared values. But a White House official said afterward¹¹ that during their private meeting, Biden asked Modi not to accelerate purchases of Russian oil.

In other words, the U.S. is not asking India to cut off Russian oil completely — just not to increase its reliance on it.

What is India saying?

Essentially¹², India listened and made no promises. Indian officials have bristled¹³ at the topic, because Europe buys much more Russian oil and gas than it does.

"Probably our total purchases for the month would be less than what Europe does in an afternoon," India's external affairs minister, S. Jaishankar, said at a press conference on Monday. "So you might want to think about that."

Modi and Biden also talked about defense cooperation and trade between their nations and are meeting in Tokyo next month with leaders from Japan and Australia to talk about countering China.

While the U.S. would like to hear India condemn² Russia, it also needs its help on China — so it may have to pick its battles.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

3 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

4 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

5 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

6 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

7 alienates   

v.使疏远( alienate的第三人称单数 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• The new teacher alienates the children by behaving prissily. 这位新老师因表现拘谨而疏远了学生。 来自互联网
• What alienates him from the house? 什么东西使他远离这所房子呢？ 来自互联网

8 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

9 circumvent   

vt.环绕，包围；对…用计取胜，智胜

参考例句：

• Military planners tried to circumvent the treaty.军事策略家们企图绕开这一条约。
• Any action I took to circumvent his scheme was justified.我为斗赢他的如意算盘而采取的任何行动都是正当的。

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

11 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

12 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

13 bristled   

adj. 直立的，多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• They bristled at his denigrating description of their activities. 听到他在污蔑他们的活动，他们都怒发冲冠。
• All of us bristled at the lawyer's speech insulting our forefathers. 听到那个律师在讲演中污蔑我们的祖先，大家都气得怒发冲冠。