By Arul Louis

New York, Mar 1 (IANS): The US has discussed its concerns with India in the aftermath of its abstaining on the United Nations Security Council vote censuring Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and has regular engagement with it, according to State Department Spokesperson Ned Price.

Asked at his daily briefing on Monday about India and the United Arab Emirates abstaining on the Council vote, he said, "We have regular engagement with our Indian partners. We have regular engagement with our Emirati partners. We have regular engagement with our European allies and our European partners. So at every level in multiple fora we have had discussions about this."

When a Reuters reporter asked him sarcastically, "Are you heartened and gratified by India abstaining and UAE abstaining," he began to say, "Rather than focus on specific countries, we have heard ..." when the reporter cut him off mid sentence and wouldn't let him continue telling him, "They are like US allies".

"Of course we have a very close relationship with India. We have discussed our concerns, our shared concerns," Price continued.

Earlier when another reporter tried to get Price to speak specifically about countries that did not vote for the resolution or co-sponsor it, he skirted the question focusing instead on the support it got: "We are comfortable, we are heartened, we are gratified by the fact that the world, the international community, has stood up to speak loudly and clearly in defense of Ukraine's sovereignty, its independence, its territorial integrity."