Finance
On Saturday, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar emphasized India’s ongoing backing for dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the Ukraine crisis during a consultative committee meeting on India-Russia relations.
The meeting examined extensive bilateral cooperation between India and Russia in various areas, such as trade, investment, energy, connectivity, culture, and people-to-people (P2P) relationships.
In a post on X, EAM Jaishankar said: “Chaired a consultative committee meeting on India – Russia relations. Highlighted various aspects of our multifaceted engagement including in trade, investments, energy, connectivity, culture and P2P domains. As well as our active support to dialogue & diplomacy to end the Ukraine conflict.”
Earlier on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s persistent efforts to help end the Ukraine conflict, saying the Indian leader has consistently raised the issue at their meetings and offered “very good ideas” for finding a mutually acceptable solution.
Speaking at an event in Moscow, Putin said that despite their “very good, friendly” relations, PM Modi has shown a keen interest in facilitating a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine conflict.
“Regarding Prime Minister Modi’s position on ending wars and so forth, I can say that he is one of those world leaders who, despite our very good, even friendly, relations, and very good personal ties, constantly raises questions about ending the conflict in Ukraine. He always raises these issues at every meeting with us. He is keenly interested, and he has very good ideas aimed at finding mutually acceptable solutions. In this sense, the Prime Minister certainly takes a neutral position, but he is interested in ending the conflict. I simply consider it my duty to state this frankly,” President Putin told Valdai Discussion Club in Moscow.
Expressing gratitude to PM Modi, he further said, “We are grateful to the Prime Minister for his ideas — I won’t go into details now — for his commitment to ending this conflict, including peacefully and as quickly as possible.”
Last month, in his meeting with Putin at the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, PM Modi reiterated that dialogue and diplomacy are essential for resolving current conflicts.
During their discussion on important regional and global matters of shared concern, such as the conflicts in West Asia and the Black Sea area that have affected maritime trade and the safety of Indian sailors, PM Modi emphasized India’s willingness to support peace initiatives.
Source: IANS
