Ukraine-Russia conflict: Both countries know 'if we can be of any use, we will be willing,' says Jaishankar
New Delhi, February 21: India's relationship with major powers of the world is very good except for China, said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday, adding that New Delhi has goodwill and both Russia and Ukraine know that "if we can be of any use, we will be willing".
The remarks came as EAM Jaishankar responded to questions on the Ukraine conflict which began on February 24 last year with no sign yet of it ending in the near future. The Union Minister added that India was involved in some intricacies and had played a role in relation to Ukraine's concerns about the safety of the Zaporizhzhia power plant by passing some messages to Russia as well as the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency).
Jaishankar further added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks made to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Uzbekistan in September last year is a widely shared sentiment. The Indian PM had told President Putin "today is not the era of war".
External Affairs Minister also added that PM Modi wants somewhere to create momentum for peace and recalled that the Prime Minister has had conversations with both the Russian President and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"The sentiment that the Prime Minister voiced is a widely shared sentiment. It's also a sentiment which is particularly strong in the countries of the South. You asked me what the voice of the global South...Today you have a huge number of countries in Africa, Asia, Central America, Latin America, the Caribbean, Pacific who feel that our issues are being put on the side and the entire oxygen is being sucked up by the Ukraine conflict. So nobody is really worrying about whether I get food and what cost I get food, what's happening to fuel, fertilizers, and debt. And today remember, even middle-income countries are going into debt," Jaishankar stated.
"What we want to do, and I think that was very much on the Prime Minister's mind, he wants somewhere to create a momentum for peace. And I think that was his first public expression. Remember he had been talking to President Putin, and President Zelenskyy on the phone."
"What both Ukraine and Russia know is that if we can be of any use, we will be willing...our sort of capabilities and sort of goodwill is there for that. We have to wait and see where it goes," he further said.
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- ANI
