New Delhi: India on Friday said it supports an early end to the Ukraine conflict and a return to lasting peace in the region. The Foreign Ministry’s remarks came amid renewed efforts by Washington to end the war in Ukraine.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said, “As far as the conflict in Ukraine is concerned, we welcome all recent efforts to establish peace in Ukraine.” He said in his weekly media briefing, “We hope that all parties will move forward constructively. India supports an early end to the conflict and the establishment of lasting peace.” External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Thursday discussed the Ukraine conflict with his Ukrainian counterpart Andrei Sibiha.
After a phone conversation with Jaishankar, Sibiha said he informed his Indian counterpart about the “current battlefield situation and Ukraine’s efforts to achieve a just peace.” He said on social media, “We count on India’s authoritative voice and active role in support of the complete cessation of hostilities and comprehensive international peace efforts.” The Ukrainian foreign minister said he and Jaishankar have agreed to meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting later this month. The Jaishankar-Sibiha talks took place three days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) annual summit in Tianjin, China.
In the meeting, PM Modi told Putin that India welcomes all recent efforts to establish peace in Ukraine and it is an appeal of humanity to find a way to resolve the hostility as soon as possible.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Modi on Saturday, two days before Modi’s meeting with the Russian President. After a phone conversation with Modi, Zelensky said that India is ready to make the necessary efforts and send appropriate signals to Russia.
India has been constantly appealing to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict through dialogue and diplomacy. In July last year, Modi visited Moscow and told Putin that the solution to the Ukraine conflict is not possible on the battlefield and peace efforts do not succeed amid bombs and bullets. The following month, Modi visited the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and told Zelensky that both Ukraine and Russia should sit together without wasting time to end the war.
India rejects Peter Navarro’s comments
India on Friday rejected the objectionable remarks made by Peter Navarro, trade adviser to the White House, the official residence and office of the US President, on New Delhi for buying Russian crude oil, calling them “false and misleading”.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “We have seen the false and misleading statements made by Navarro and we categorically reject them.” Last week, Navarro accused India of being an “oil money laundering center for the Kremlin”. India continues to buy Russian weapons even as it has urged US defence companies to transfer sensitive military technologies and set up manufacturing plants in India. Relations between New Delhi and Washington have soured after Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50 per cent, including an additional 25 per cent duty on India’s purchase of Russian crude oil.
India has called the US action “unwarranted and unreasonable” and wondered why it was singled out for punitive action. Surprisingly, the US has not taken any punitive action against China, the biggest importer of Russian crude.
Defending its crude oil purchases from Russia, India has been saying that its energy purchases are driven by national interest and market dynamics.
