Just ahead of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to India this week, the Biden administration is sending its chief strategist on sanctions against Russia for the war in Ukraine, Deputy National Security Adviser Daleep Singh. Mr. Singh is due to be in Delhi for meetings on Thursday, while Mr. Lavrov will hold meetings with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and other officials on Friday, after arriving from Beijing where he is attending a conference on Afghanistan.
The U.S. Deputy NSA’s visit also coincides with that of British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who will hold meetings at South Block and address a think tank event jointly with Mr. Jaishankar on Thursday, and comes amidst a flurry of visits by a number of countries, including China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, keen to discuss India’s stand on the Ukraine crisis. In particular, Mr. Singh is visiting Delhi one week after U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland visited for meetings about the Ukraine crisis, and ahead of India-U.S. “2+2” Foreign and Defence ministerial consultations that will take place in Washington in mid-April.
