US President Joe Biden has described India’s stand on the Russian invasion of Ukraine as “somewhat shaky” and a visiting American government official added more pressure on New Delhi by saying democracies need to stand together against autocracies.

Addressing the Business Roundtable’s CEO Quarterly Meeting on Monday, Biden brought up India while dwelling on the response of Nato and the Quad (the US, India, Japan and Australia) to the Russian attack on Ukraine.

Biden said India had been a “possible exception” within the Quad by being “somewhat shaky on some of this”.

“But Japan has been extremely strong, so has Australia, in terms of dealing with Putin’s aggression. We presented a united front throughout Nato and the Pacific,” he added.

Biden’s comments on the individual responses of Quad member countries to the Ukraine situation echoes India’s own assessment after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s visit to New Delhi last Saturday and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s engagement with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the India-Australia Virtual Summit on Monday.

Kishida was seen to be more forceful in his intervention on Ukraine while Morrison more understanding of India’s nuanced position on the situation, sources said.

Hours after Biden made this remark, US undersecretary of state for political affairs Victoria Nuland told NDTV: “Democracies need to stand together and evolve their position vis-a-vis Russia because of the choices Putin has made. Democracies must stand against autocracies like Russia and China.”

Nuland is an old hand at Ukraine — she was assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs. In 2014, in leaked tapes, she spoke about US involvement in Ukrainian politics.

Boris-Modi call

On Tuesday night, Reuters reported from London that Modi and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson agreed during a call that Russia must adhere to the United Nations Charter.

“The pair agreed that Ukraine’s integrity and territorial sovereignty must be respected,” a statement issued by Johnson’s office following the call said.

“Russia needed to adhere to the UN Charter, the leaders said, and both agreed that respect for international law was the only way to ensure global peace and prosperity.”

Johnson also said both countries needed to intensify efforts to promote peace and de-escalation in the region.