New Delhi: External affairs minister S. Jaishankar on Wednesday, September 28, underlined that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin recently in Samarkand were “not a change in India’s position” on the conflict in Ukraine.
Jaishankar was referring to the first face-to-face meeting between Modi and Putin since the Ukraine conflict broke out on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Uzbekistan’s Samarkand on September 16. Mod had told Putin that it was not a time for war, with food, fertiliser and fuel security among the major concerns of the world at present, urging for early cessation of hostilities between the two countries.
The external affairs made the remarks during an interaction with Indian reporters in Washington on Wednesday, September 28.
“So, it was very natural when they have a face-to-face meeting that, you know, will begin the meeting with the press there, you make the press remarks, and we’ll look at the video of that particular occasion, that’s exactly what happened,” he said.
Also read: ‘Today’s Era Is Not an Era of War,’ PM Modi Tells Putin on Russia-Ukraine Conflict
“Now, it’s not as if we have not said that before. We have been expressing our concern about the conflict about the urgency for early cessation of hostilities, about the need for dialogue and diplomacy. So there has been a steady refrain. It was entirely natural that if the Prime Minister of India and the President of Russia were meeting at this juncture that these subjects would be addressed. And I think that’s what the Prime Minister did,” he said.
Continuing further, he said, “It was an obvious subject to come up at the meeting. The position that the Prime Minister took was consistent with the position that we have been taking earlier. Now, possibly it was received and perceived in a way because it was a face-to-face meeting, whereas earlier on these were reports of conversations that had taken place,” Jaishankar said.
“So, in terms of the impact that they made on the global media, I think it’s understandable that a physical meeting made a stronger impact than the sort of second-hand report in a way,” he said.
Modi had urged Putin to end the conflict in Ukraine, saying “today’s era is not of war” even as he called for finding ways to address the global food and energy security crisis. “Today the biggest worry before the world, especially developing countries, is food security, fuel security, fertilisers. We must find ways to these problems and you will also have to consider them. We will get an opportunity to talk about these issues,” Modi had said.
When asked about Russia’s referendum in areas of Ukraine that it occupied, Jaishankar said, “I think it is an issue that will be coming up for consideration, my understanding, is in the United Nations. So, I would urge you to wait and see what our ambassador there has to say,” he said.
Jaishankar said the Ukrainian issue would naturally continue to feature in all important international discussions.
(With PTI inputs)
