Appreciate India’s neutral stance on Ukraine: Lavrov
India is ready to contribute to peace efforts in Ukraine, Modi tells Russian foreign minister
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday said no pressure can affect Russia’s partnership with India, whose foreign policy reflects the country’s neutrality and independence while Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated his call for an early cessation of violence in Ukraine during a meeting with Lavrov and conveyed India’s readiness to contribute in any way to peace efforts.
The Indian side has repeatedly stressed on respecting the UN Charter and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states. In his phone conversations with Russian and Ukrainian presidents in recent weeks, Modi has called for an end to the hostilities and a return to the path of dialogue and diplomacy.
Modi repeated his call for an end to violence when Lavrov met and briefed him on the situation in Ukraine, including the ongoing peace negotiations, according to an official statement.
“Prime Minister reiterated his call for an early cessation of violence, and conveyed India’s readiness to contribute in any way to the peace efforts,” the statement said. Lavrov met Modi after his talks with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar. The interaction with the Prime Minister was significant as Modi has not met any of the Western leaders or senior officials who have travelled to New Delhi in the past two weeks for consultations on the Ukraine crisis.
Lavrov said his talks with Jaishankar reflected the specially privileged strategic partnership forged with India over many decades and bilateral cooperation in many areas, ranging from defence to investments. “I believe that India’s foreign policy is characterised by independence and the concentration on the real national legitimate interests,” he said, adding that Russia has a similar policy and “this makes us... good friends and old partners”.
The two countries always respect each other’s interests and try to accommodate such interests, he said.
“I have no doubt that any pressure will affect our partnership, but you know that others have been trying to suppress the relationship between India, Russia and China...and they are forcing others to follow their politics,” he added.
Lavrov flew into India from China shortly after US deputy national security adviser Daleep Singh concluded his talks with Indian interlocutors regarding the fallout of the Ukraine crisis and the wide-ranging sanctions imposed by the US to squeeze Russia’s leadership.