EU chief on 2-day India visit to boost relations

We appreciate repeated calls by PM Modi for cessation of hostilities and the delivery of humanitarian aid from India to Ukraine

URSULA VON DER LEYEN,

European Commission president

NEW DELHI: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said that letting Russia’s unjustified attack on Ukraine go unchallenged could lead to a world where “might makes right”, including in the Indo-Pacific, where there are “simmering tensions”.

Von der Leyen, who on Sunday begins a two-day visit to India during which she will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and open the Raisina Dialogue, said that she will discuss the Ukraine crisis with India with a clear message about the “need to stop this aggression now”.

The European Union (EU) invites other countries to join its efforts to hamper President Vladimir Putin’s “ability to continue the bloodshed in Ukraine” through a sanctions regime “because Russia’s aggression is not only a danger for individual countries but for the entire world”, she said in an interview ahead of her arrival.

Asked about the potential risk of the Russian invasion of Ukraine triggering similar incidents in the Indo-Pacific, where China has unresolved border disputes with several countries, von der Leyen said: “I believe there is a risk that – if this aggression goes unchallenged – we may all face a world where might makes right. The EU is for the rule of law, not for the rule of the gun.”

“This is valid not just in Europe but also in the Indo-Pacific, where we see simmering tensions. With our Indo-Pacific strategy we have clearly indicated that the EU has a strong stake in the security and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific,” she