Focus should be on stopping fighting: Jaishankar on Ukraine
The Hindu
New Delhi The best way to deal with the conflict in Ukraine would be to focus on “stopping the fig
The best way to deal with the conflict in Ukraine would be to focus on “stopping the fighting and getting the talking” to move forward and India’s position on the crisis is best placed to advance such an approach, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said on April 27.
His comments came in response to a question at an interactive session at the Raisina Dialogue, India’s premier foreign policy and geo-economics conference.
Mr. Jaishankar on April 26 countered criticism of India’s position on Russia’s actions in Ukraine, saying the Western powers have been oblivious to the pressing challenges in Asia including last year’s developments in Afghanistan.
“We spent a lot of time yesterday on Ukraine and I have tried to explain what our views are but also explained that in our minds the best way forward is to focus on stopping the fighting, getting the talking and finding ways of moving forward. We think our choices, our positions are best placed to advance that,” he said.
India has not yet publicly condemned the Russian attack on Ukraine and has been calling for the resolution of the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy.
In his address, Mr. Jaishankar talked about India’s 75-year-long journey after Independence and highlighted how the country played a key role in promoting democracy in South Asia.
Reflecting on areas where India came up short, the External Affairs Minister listed a lack of adequate attention to human resources and manufacturing and mentioned that probably not much attention was given to hard security as part of foreign policy.