INDIA’S MODI CALLS ON EU FOR TALKS ON UKRAINE CONFLICT
▶ ‘No party can emerge victorious,’ Indian PM says after meeting German Chancellor in Berlin
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting Germany, France and Denmark for talks amid the conflict in Ukraine.
After meeting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin yesterday on the first leg of his three-day trip, Mr Modi called for dialogue to resolve the conflict because “no party can emerge victorious in this war”.
He expressed concern that food shortages linked to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, two of the world’s top wheat producers, would harm poor and developing countries.
“Everyone will suffer losses and that is why we are for peace,” he said.
The leaders signed a set of agreements to deepen India’s ties with Germany. These included setting up an encrypted hotline between their two foreign ministries, a plan to fight deforestation and creating a task force on green hydrogen.
India will also be invited to attend the G7 summit that Germany will host next month.
A spokesman for Mr Scholz would not be drawn on suggestions that Germany, which is committing €10 billion ($10.5bn) to the package of bilateral agreements, was trying to entice India into a more western-friendly position on Ukraine.
But he said it was “clear that we have different positions in how we assess the war in Ukraine” and that these would be discussed.
Mr Modi’s government has walked a fine line by calling for an end to hostilities without condemning Russia directly.
He said his visit was meant to “strengthen the spirit of co-operation with our European partners, who are important companions in India’s quest for peace and prosperity”.
Yesterday, Mr Modi led the sixth India-Germany InterGovernmental Consultations, a regular ministerial dialogue.
The agreements signed included a plan to produce green hydrogen, as the fuel is known when it is generated from renewable sources, which will bring together officials, industry figures and research institutes from both countries.
Germany will support the protection and restoration of forests in India, which hopes to reinstate about 26 million hectares of woodland by the end of the decade.
India has set 2070 as its target date for net-zero carbon emissions and angered some countries at last year’s Cop26 environmental summit by pushing through a last-minute amendment that weakened an agreement on coal power.
Mr Modi also discussed easing immigration rules for skilled workers from India to tackle labour shortages in Europe’s largest economy.
He will visit Copenhagen today and tomorrow, and hold bilateral engagements with his Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen. They will take part in the second India-Nordic Summit, along with the prime ministers of Iceland, Finland, Sweden and Norway.
On his return journey, Mr Modi will stop in Paris to hold a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.
New Delhi has irked its European allies with its neutral stance on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
It has called for “diplomacy and dialogue” to resolve the crisis, while repeatedly abstaining from EU-backed resolutions that censured Russia at the UN.