The Minister of External Affairs, Dr S Jaishankar, stated in a recent interview that India shares friendly relationships with all the international except China. In the same breath, he commented that the country shares an equally good relationship with Russia and Ukraine and will be available for both countries if the need arises.
During an interview, Dr Jaishankar made these remarks answering questions regarding the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. The conflict started on February 24, 2022, and shows no signs of resolution soon. Accordingly, the Minister of External Affairs has commented that the world focuses excessively on the conflict.
Elaborating further, he expressed that the issues and grievances of the global south get overlooked due to the ongoing conflict. He explained that several countries in Africa, Asia, Central America, Caribbean feel that their issues are getting sidelined and the focus is on the Russia and Ukraine Conflict.
He explained that even middle-income countries are going into debt, and no one is concerned about whether the countries are getting enough resources and at what cost they are getting these resources. Accordingly, he repeated the sentiment shared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue. While interacting with the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, SCO summit in Uzbekistan in September 2022, the Indian Prime Minister told him that “This is not the era for war.”
The Minister of External Affairs noted that PM Modi wants to create an environment for peace. For this, he has talked to the heads of both Ukraine and Russia. During the interaction, EAM Dr S Jaishankar informed the media that he interacted with Zelensky, who shared concerns regarding the safety of the nuclear energy plant.
Following this interaction, EAM Jaishankar shared the concern of the Ukrainian leader with the IAEA after getting approval from PM Modi. India then communicated the messages and engaged the Russians
