External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said in the Lok Sabha that India is "deeply disturbed by civilian killings" in Bucha, Ukraine and supports an independent probe into what is an “extremely serious matter”.
Replying to the discussion in the House on the situation in Ukraine, he said India favours peace and an immediate end to violence in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. “This is our stand in the United Nations,” he added.
The External Affairs Minister said, “We are strongly against the conflict”.
“If New Delhi has chosen a side, it is the side of peace and for an immediate end to violence. We are deeply disturbed by civilian killings and support and call for an independent investigation ,” he said in reference to alleged mass civilian killings in the Ukrainian city of Bucha, Ukraine.
“We strongly condemn the killings that have taken place there. This is an extremely serious matter’, he said on the issue that has fuelled an international outrage.
He said the conflict in Ukraine has consequences for all across the world as “for us” too, he said and alluded to economic interdependence. He said India is pursuing its own interest
Jaishankar said India was the first country to evacuate its citizens and "served as an inspiration" to others. He said India encourages talks between Ukraine and Russia, including at the level of their presidents, and asserted that if New Delhi can be of any assistance in this matter, it would be "glad to contribute".
India's approach will be to promote dialogue to end the conflict, he said adding in this day and age, dialogue and diplomacy are the right answers to any disputes.
“One should bear in mind that the contemporary global order has been built on the UN Charter, on respect for international law and for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states, he s aidreaffirming that India is on the side of peace.
Jaishankar also said that attributing a political colour to India's actions vis-a-vis the Ukraine situation was unfortunate. In response to RSP member N K Premachandran drawing a contrast between advisories by the Indian embassy with that of other countries, he said the Western countries had a political approach and agenda.
Their advisories did not have the same intent as ours -- welfare of community concerns, Jaishankar said. "When we left Sumi, along with us more non-Indian came out and they came out because of a ceasefire that we had arranged," he told the house. He said some foreign ministers told him that they watched India and said they will also do something.
Rejecting the criticism that the government's actions in the matter were guided by assembly polls in five states, Jaishankar said the prime minister in the middle of an election campaign came back to supervise the overall evacuation and personally spoke to the top leadership of different countries.
He said that in terms of diplomacy, India continues to press forcefully for an immediate cessation of hostilities and an end to violence.
"We encourage talks between Ukraine and Russia, including at the level of their presidents. Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) himself has spoken to them both in this regard. This was precisely the message that was conveyed to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov when he was in Delhi. If India can be of any assistance in this matter, we would be glad to contribute," Jaishankar said.
He said the ground situation calls for an urgent humanitarian relief and that India has already provided 90 tonnes of relief material, and did so even while we were in the middle of an evacuation.
"At a time when energy costs have spiked, clearly we need to ensure that the common person in India is not subject to an additional and an unavoidable burden. Similarly, fertilizer prices have a direct implication for the livelihood of a majority of our population and indeed for food prices for all of us. Even the security of the nation is at stake as we maintain our defence posture in the manner that the current security challenges warrant," he said.