S Jaishakar on Saturday said India wants to “facilitate” the end of the Russia-Ukraine war
S Jaishankar (File Image)
Photo : Twitter
India wants to “facilitate” the end of the Russia-Ukraine war, and the earlier negotiations begin, the better it is, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar, said today.
The needle is moving towards negotiations and “we are going to Moscow and to Kiev. We aren’t involved in mediation but we are having transparent conversations. We are telling what we are saying to people.” He added that the war will not be solved in the battlefield and the sooner there are negotiations, the better it is.
Also, as a leading member of the Global South, India is placing before the world the problems caused by the war— huge increase in costs of fuel, food and fertiliser. “It’s affecting people a lot. We are trying for meaningful results quickly,” he added.
Speaking about the coming Donald Trump led US government, he said India had good relations with Washington DC when Trump was President and the friendship between him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been strong. Jaishankar said the areas of “convergence outstrips the differences with the United States,” adding that India is not for de-dollarisation and there is no plan to have a BRICKS currency. Plus, the United States is India’s largest trading partner and New Delhi has no wish to weaken the dollar. He pointed out that Trump pushed the Quad initiative which President Joe Biden ( his successor) built on.
With half a million Indians in the Mediterranean region and ten million in the Gulf, the new hostilities in Syria, which came as a surprise, is of concern to India. There is a “shipping problem” in this area of instability, where India gas huge economic interests.