Modi bats for end to Ukraine row; Russia hails India for its free foreign policy
Visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday evening and held detailed talks about the Ukraine situation.
A press release from the Prime Minister’s Office said Modi called for an end to violence even as Lavrov briefed him on the situation in Ukraine, including peace negotiations. The meeting lasted for 40 minutes.
The meeting came after the Russian Foreign Minister and his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar held a comprehensive discussion on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Modi’s meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister is significant. The Prime Minister has not met any other visiting Ministers in the past two weeks, including those from the UK, China, Austria, Greece and Mexico.
“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,” said the press statement.
Earlier, India called for sustained dialogue and diplomacy to end the Ukraine conflict even as Russia praised it for following an independent foreign policy and promised to supply whatever India wanted to buy from Russia.
Also, Russia favoured India for playing the role of mediator in resolving the Ukraine crisis. These points were the main highlights of the talks between Sergey Lavrov and S Jaishankar.
India has so far abstained from voting against Russia at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on the issue of the Ukraine conflict.
In his opening remarks at the talks, Jaishankar said the meeting was taking place in a “difficult international environment quite apart from the pandemic”.
He also said India has always been in favour of resolving differences and disputes through dialogue and diplomacy.
On his part, Lavrov said the ties between India and Russia were “very sustainable” during many “difficult times” in the past and that he did not have the slightest of doubts about continued cooperation.
He said the strengthening of ties with India has been a key priority of the Russian foreign policy.
With India emerging as a prominent player in the context of the Ukraine war, Lavrov said he is all for New Delhi stepping in to resolve the conflict.
“India is an important country. If India sees to play that role which provides resolution of problems...If India is with its position of just and rational approach to international problems, it can support such a process,” he said on the possibility of India becoming a mediator between Moscow and Kyiv.
Lavrov also took exception to the use of the word “war” and termed it as a “special operation targeting military infrastructure in Ukraine”. “The aim is to deprive the Kyiv regime from building the capacity to present any threat to Russia," he said.
In an apparent reference to the US and its allies, he said, "We are interested in having a balanced world order which makes it sustainable."
"These days our western colleagues would like to reduce any meaningful international issue to the crisis in Ukraine...We do not fight anything and we appreciate that India is taking this situation in the entirety of effect and not just in a one-sided way," he added.
"I believe that Indian foreign policies are characterised by independence and the concentration on real national legitimate interests. The same policy is based in the Russian Federation and this makes us, as big countries, good friends and loyal partners," Lavrov said.
His remarks came in the backdrop of the US cautioning about consequences over attempts to "circumvent" American sanctions against Moscow.
"I have no doubt no pressure will affect our partnership... They (US) are forcing others to follow their politics," the Russian minister said when asked if US pressure on India will affect India-Russian ties.
With sanctions imposed against Russia and its impact on trade and defence on India, Lavrov said Russia has developed a system to engage in trade in national currencies with countries like India and efforts to move away from the dollar-based payment system will intensify.
He said Russia is exploring ways to bypass impediments for bilateral trade with its allies and partners. Lavrov said a Rupee-Rouble payment system for trade with India was put into place earlier and it could be strengthened further. "More and more transactions will be done using national currencies and bypassing the dollar-based system," he told reporters.
Asked about India's plan to buy discounted Russian oil, Lavrov said Moscow is ready to provide anything that New Delhi wants to buy.
He said Russia is committed to continuing with India its cooperation in the defence sector.
Russia is the biggest supplier of defence equipment to India and Lavrov said the two countries would use a Rupee-Ruble mechanism to trade oil, military hardware and other goods.
"I have no doubt that a way would be (found) to bypass the artificial impediments which illegal unilateral sanctions by the West create. This relates also to the area of military-technical cooperation," he said.
"If India wants to buy anything from us, ready to discuss and reach mutually acceptable cooperation. We will be ready to supply to India any goods which it wants to buy from us. We are ready to discuss. Russia and India have very good relations," Lavrov said.
Asked how Moscow can support New Delhi to meet security challenges, he said, "Talks are characterised by relations which we developed with India for many decades. Relations are strategic partnerships...This was the basis on which we have been promoting our cooperation in all areas."