"Negotiations are only way forward": EAM Jaishankar on conflict between Russia and Ukraine
Sep 10, 2024
Berlin [Germany], September 10 : External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday asserted that India's stand on the war between Russia and Ukraine "rests on some postulates" and emphasised that differences can only be resolved through dialogue and negotiations, not war, and that negotiations are the only way forward.
The remarks by EAM came while he was addressing a joint press conference with German Minister for Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock.
Addressing the press conference, Jaishankar said, "Minister Baerbock and I regularly talk about Ukraine. We are talking about this time in person. But from time to time, we speak on the phone or otherwise."
He added, "In the last two-and-a-half years, in different ways, India has had some involvement with various specific initiatives, the green corridor, matters relating to the security of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear station and some other discussions."
Talking about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Jaishankar added, "This year, PM Modi went to Russia in July. He met President ZelenskyY in Italy in June and then he went to Kyiv in August. And in both, Moscow and Kyiv, he had fairly detailed long discussions with the two Presidents."
Jaishankar, during the joint press conference, further said that a lot of things were said during the discussions and asserted that "India's position on the ongoing war rests on some postulates."
Elaborating on the postulates, he said, "We don't believe that differences and disputes can be settled through war. This is not the era of war; We don't believe in this conflict and a solution will come from the battlefield. So we do think that negotiations are the only way forward. At some point, there has to be negotiations. When there is a discussion, we also think that it is essential to have Russia in it unless the discussions don't gain further moment."
Notably, PM Modi concluded his visit to Ukraine on August 23, the first by an Indian PM to the European nation since India established diplomatic ties with Ukraine in 1992.
During their bilateral meeting, PM Modi had told Zelenskyy that dialogue is the only solution to the conflict in Ukraine. "India was never neutral, we have always been on the side of peace," PM Modi had told Zelenskyy in their bilateral meeting.
He further said that India was ready to play an active role in the path to peace and progress.
