The US and Europe’s repeated threats to sanction India and other Asian countries for their neutral stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine played a key role in India’s decision to abstain from UN votes on the issue, according to multiple Indian officials and analysts..
India has historically maintained close ties with Russia, its biggest supplier of military hardware, but it has also sought to build closer economic and security partnerships with the US and Europe in recent years. The Ukraine crisis has forced India to navigate a difficult diplomatic tightrope, balancing its traditional ties with Russia with its growing strategic alignment with the West..
In the lead-up to the UN Security Council vote on a draft resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the US and Europe made it clear that they would sanction any country that abstained or voted against the resolution. India ultimately abstained from the vote, along with China and the United Arab Emirates..
A senior Indian official told the Financial Times that the threat of sanctions was a .
