"Fundamental anchor on which our political positioning...": Foreign Secretary on India's position on Ukraine conflict
May 18, 2023
New Delhi [India], May 18 : Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra on Thursday said India's position on the Russia-Ukraine conflict has been spoken n-number of times and that is the fundamental anchor of India's political positioning and the pursuit of its economic interests.
"India's position on Russia-Ukraine has been spoken, reiterated n-number of times both in our press briefings here and outside the forum. The prime minister has spoken about what he himself believes should be the path forward for the resolution of this conflict," Kwatra said during a special briefing on PM Modi's visit to Japan, Papua New Guinea and Australia.
The Foreign Secretary said PM Modi during his meeting with the Russian President in Samarkand said this is not the era of war and the resolution of this conflict has to be through dialogue and diplomacy. "That is the fundamental anchor on which our political positioning and the pursuit of our economic interests is based on so far as this conflict is concerned," Kwatra said.
Meanwhile, responding to Josep Borrell, the EU Foreign policy chief's remarks calling for action against Indian refined products from Russian crude, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday (local time) advised him to look at EU Council regulations.
"Look at EU Council regulations, Russian crude is substantially transformed in the third country and not treated as Russian anymore. I would urge you to look at Council's Regulation 833/2014," said Jaishankar.
This comes after the bloc's chief diplomat earlier said that the EU should crack down on India reselling Russian oil as refined fuels including diesel into Europe as Western nations move to tighten sanctions on Moscow's energy sector.
"India buys Russian oil, it's normal... " said EU's Foreign policy chief Borrell but wants the bloc to act on refined products coming from India-made Russian crude in an interview with Financial Times.
While Borrell met with Jaishankar at the trade technology talks in Brussels, he was not present at the press conference that followed.
In his place, EU Executive Vice President on Competition, Margrethe Vestager said that there was "no doubt about the legal basis of the sanctions", and that the EU and India would have the discussion as "friends... with an extended hand and of course, not a pointed finger."
Along with Jaishankar, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, and Union Minister of State for Entrepreneurship, Skill Development, Electronics and Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar was also in the meeting.
