U.S. offers support to India's G20 presidency on energy, food issues

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The United States will support India's G20 presidency including on issues such as food and energy security, the U.S. embassy there said on Tuesday, as New Delhi seeks the backing of its partners ahead of key meetings starting this month.

The presidency has attracted particular interest given India's close ties with both the United States and Russia, from which it has significantly increased imports of oil since the war in Ukraine began nearly a year ago.

Officials from the United States, Europe and China are expected to head to India in late February and early March for meetings of finance and foreign ministers. The summit of heads of government is scheduled for September.

"We support India on a range of issues, including addressing current food and energy security challenges and continuing our efforts to build a resilient global economy," a spokesperson for the U.S. embassy in New Delhi said in a statement to Reuters.

"We are also working with India in the G20 to continue to support women's economic empowerment. We look forward to deepening our bilateral partnership with India on a range of important regional and global issues in the year ahead."

Russia became the third-largest oil supplier to India in 2022, making up about 15% of its total purchases, from less than 2% before the war.

India has largely kept its trade and defence ties with Russia despite initial calls from the United States and other Western nations against it after the invasion of Ukraine.

(Reporting by Krishna N. Das, Editing by Kylie MacLellan)