Ending Russia's invasion of Ukraine critical to addressing food crisis, high energy prices: US

US Deputy Secretary of Treasury Wally Adeyemo discussed with Indian policymakers ways to jointly deal with global challenges like food insecurity and high energy prices, asserting that ending Russia's invasion of Ukraine was critical to address these issues. Adeyemo held meetings on Friday with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Principal Secretary to the prime minister PK Mishra, Finance Secretary Ajay Seth, Foreign Secretary Vijay Kwatra and Petroleum Secretary Pankaj Jain.

The US official's visit to India from August 24 to 26 came amid rising disquiet among Western powers over New Deli's increasing procurement of crude oil from Russia.

A readout by the US Department of Treasury said Adeyemo shared with his counterparts the United States' views on ways to "put downward pressure" on energy prices for consumers and businesses in India, the US, and globally.

It said he also underscored the importance of further deepening the already strong US-India relationship, including through platforms like the Quad and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.

"Deputy Secretary Adeyemo stressed that we can maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific that delivers greater prosperity for our citizens through those efforts, including through steps to bolster supply chain resiliency between trusted partners like the United States and India," the readout, released by the US Embassy here, said.

The US launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) in May to expand cooperation among like-minded countries in areas like clean energy, supply-chain resilience and digital trade.

"The Deputy Secretary also discussed ways that the United States and India could work together to address shared global challenges like food insecurity and high energy prices. The Deputy Secretary raised that ending Russia's invasion of Ukraine was critical to addressing these issues," the readout said.

It said Adeyemo reiterated the importance of "well supplied global energy markets, even as we work together with partners like India to expand access to sources of renewable energy that will reduce our dependence on fossil fuels over time." With oil prices surging past the USD 100/barrel mark, the US along with other G7 nations is looking at imposing some sort of price cap on Russian oil.

Adeyemo told media on Friday that energy and foodgrain trade by Russia has been kept out of sanctions and nations like India were free to enter into deals using any currency, including local currency. PTI MPB TDS TDS