India engaged in proactive diplomacy for Ukraine, West Asia solution: Jaishankar | Latest News India

India is engaged in efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts through diplomacy as it is among the few countries that can speak to the warring sides in both situations, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday.

External affairs minister S Jaishankar with Panama foreign minister Javier Martínez-Acha Vásquez on the Panama National Day on Sunday.(S Jaishankar-X)

Jaishankar said at an interaction with the Indian community in the Australian city of Brisbane that both conflicts have caused concern because of their widespread fallout. “In different ways, we are trying to do something in both,” he said while responding to a question from the audience.

There has to be a serious effort to return to diplomacy in the Russia-Ukraine conflict as 125 countries of the Global South are feeling the distress and pain of this war. Pointing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s involvement in efforts to find a peaceful resolution, Jaishankar said Modi had travelled to Russia in July and to Ukraine in August.

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Modi also met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in June and again in September, and held talks again with President Vladimir Putin in the Russian city of Kazan in October. “It is a situation which does call for some degree of…proactive diplomacy. We are trying to do that,” Jaishankar said.

He added: “We feel that the rest of the world should not throw up its hands and say, ‘Ok, let’s wait for them to slug it out and one day they’ll get tired and something will happen.’ Because every day there is a cost to the world, apart from the cost to these countries and to the region.”

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Jaishankar acknowledged there was a “certain degree of skepticism” when India began its efforts but today there is “much greater understanding, especially among Western countries”. It is also receiving strong support from the Global South. “We are hoping that through multiple conversations, we are able to create some common ground so that some beginnings of diplomacy can resume,” he said.

The situation in West Asia is different as ongoing efforts are focused on preventing the spread of the Israel-Hamas conflict. “Here one of the gaps is the inability of Iran and Israel to talk to each other directly. So different countries are trying to see if they can bridge that gap, we happen to be one of them,” Jaishankar said.

Both conflicts are worrying situations as instability anywhere in a globalised world has implications everywhere in terms of inflation, energy and food security, and disrupted supply chains, he said.

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