Observing that India walks a difficult middle ground on the Ukraine crisis, two Democratic lawmakers Wednesday urged India to condemn Russian military operations against Ukraine which they said have no place in the 21st century. In a letter to India’s Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Congressman Ted W Lieu and Congressman Tom Malinowski said, ”Though we understand India’s relationship with Russia, we are disappointed with your government’s decision to abstain from the UN General Assembly’s March 2 vote.”

They said Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine undermines the rules-based order, ”and by invading Ukraine, Russia is trying to destroy a set of rules that protect India as well”. ”India’s historic support for the UN Charter and the principles of territorial integrity gives us hope that India will join other democracies to support Ukrainian sovereignty in the face of Russian aggression,” the two Democratic lawmakers wrote.

They said they ”deeply value” the relationship between the United States and India. ”t the same time, we are disappointed that India has taken this approach in response to Russia’s actions.” ”We understand that India walks a difficult middle ground, but Russia’s actions have no place in the 21st century. Many countries who have relationships with Russia did the right thing and condemned the Russian government they chose the right side of history and so should India,” they said.

We hope that India will move away from its current position that places blame on both sides and acknowledge that Russia is the aggressor in this conflict,” Lieu and Malinowski wrote in the letter dated March 16. The two lawmakers wrote a separate letter to Pakistan Ambassador to the US, Majeed Khan urging Islamabad to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

”We are disappointed with your government’s decision to abstain from the UN General Assembly’s March 2 vote. We are also disappointed that Prime Minister Imran Khan announced bilateral trade agreements with Russia following its invasion of Ukraine,” they said. ”The Prime Minister’s decision to proceed with his visit to Moscow, at a moment when the world was uniting in support of Ukraine, ran counter to the international community’s efforts to reaffirm Ukraine’s territorial integrity and call out Russia as the aggressor,” the two lawmakers wrote.