No solution to Ukraine crisis on battlefield – New Delhi
New Delhi will continue to call on world powers to engage with both Russia and Ukraine, as their conflict cannot be resolved “on the battlefield,” Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Monday. India is likely to enhance its own contacts with Moscow and Kiev to find a diplomatic way out of the crisis, the diplomat added.
“We believe that there must be a return to dialogue and diplomacy,” Jaishankar said in Tokyo, where he was attending a meeting of the ‘Quad’ security group comprising Australia, India, Japan, and the US.
“It is important for everybody to do whatever they can, to see if in some way something improves, and that some move away from the battlefield to the conference takes place,” the Indian diplomat asserted.
The implications of the conflict in a globalized world are even more serious, according to Jaishankar, who said “it has created food shortages, raised energy costs, it has created fertilizer supply problems, it has contributed to global inflation.”
His remarks echoed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement during his recent visit to Moscow for a bilateral summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Modi insisted that peace is “of utmost importance” and that a solution to the Ukraine crisis “cannot be found on the battlefield.”
India has called for an end to the conflict through negotiations since the onset of fighting in 2022. Meanwhile, New Delhi has also abstained from UN resolutions condemning Moscow over the conflict and continues to maintain robust trade ties with Russia. Last year, bilateral trade reached around $65 billion, largely driven by India’s imports of discounted Russian oil and coal.
Modi’s visit to Russia earlier in July came under intense scrutiny from the West. Senior officials in the administration of US President Joe Biden were reportedly “frustrated” at the timing of the visit, as it coincided with a NATO summit in Washington. In response to US criticism, New Delhi stressed that it intends to maintain its strategic autonomy.
Jaishankar’s remarks come ahead of Modi’s planned visit to Ukraine next month. According to media reports, the Indian leader is scheduled to travel to Kiev on August 23. Asked about the visit, Jaishankar clarified that New Delhi will make its “positions known at the right time.” He stressed that going forward, there would be “more contact” between New Delhi and Ukraine as well as Russia.
Ukraine leader Vladimir Zelensky previously criticized Modi’s visit to Russia, prompting New Delhi to summon Kiev’s ambassador to India over the remarks.
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