Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri
Credit: PTI photo
New Delhi: The Russia-Ukraine conflict was discussed in "considerable detail" during a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz here on Friday, with New Delhi reiterating that it is "not neutral" in this conflict and remains on the "side of peace", Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said.
The meeting between the two leaders took place days after Modi attended the BRICS Summit in Russia's Kazan and in his address at the forum renewed his call for dialogue and diplomacy as being the only way forward to resolve conflicts, in an unambiguous message to press for the resolution of the Russia-Ukraine war through peaceful negotiations.
Misri, during a media briefing here, was asked how much the Russia-Ukraine conflict and West Asia conflict figured in the Modi-Scholz talks.
"Yes, I can confirm that both issues did come up, and they did come up in considerable details. Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) shared with the Chancellor his impressions of his meetings and interactions in the recent months, with the leaders of both Russia and Ukraine, and peace efforts that we are making in pursuing conversation on all sides," he said.
"Some of the ideas that different actors have been talking about, and how India remains on the side of peace. We are not neutral in this conflict, we are on the side of peace. And, we stand ready to assist any initiative towards peace, benefiting or leveraging the ability that we have of being able to engage with all sides in this conflict," the foreign secretary added.
India supports dialogue and diplomacy and not war, Modi had said at the BRICS Summit.
In July, Modi had visited Russia, marking his first visit since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In August he undertook a visit to Ukraine at the invitation of Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In his meeting with Scholz on Friday, Modi echoed his words spoken during his historic visit to Kyiv under the shadow of the prolonged conflict.
"We (India) are not neutral. From the very beginning, we have taken sides. And we have chosen the side of peace. We have come from the land of Buddha where there is no place for war," Modi had said in his opening remarks during the talks.
"We have come from the land of Mahatma Gandhi who had given a message of peace to the entire world," he had said.
Misri said on the conflict in West Asia, "both sides expressed concern" over the developments there, expressed hope that "already serious conflict" which has caused a lot of damage and casualties and destruction, "doesn't expand further and doesn't bring more actors into its ambit, and that parties concerned can find path back through dialogue and diplomacy, an reach an agreement on the issues".
Modi on Friday said the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and West Asia are a matter of concern and India is ready to make every possible contribution for restoration of peace.
His remarks came after talks with Scholz, who called upon India to contribute to find a political solution to the conflict in Ukraine that has been raging for a long time.