External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held a telephonic conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on the Ukraine crisis. In a tweet on Thursday night, Jaishankar said the discussion with Blinken was on the ongoing developments in Ukraine and their implications.
”Appreciate the call from @SecBlinken. Discussed the ongoing developments in Ukraine and its implications,” he said. On his talks with Lavrov, Jaishankar said he conveyed to his Russian counterpart that dialogue and diplomacy are the best way forward.
”Just spoke to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of Russia on the Ukraine developments. Underlined that dialogue and diplomacy are the best way forward,” the external affairs minister tweeted. In the course of the day, Jaishankar also spoke to EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell and British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on the evolving situation in Ukraine.
”A telephonic discussion with UK Foreign Secretary @trussliz. Exchanged perspectives on the Ukrainian situation,” the minister tweeted. Following the Russian attack on Ukraine, India underlined the need for dialogue among the key parties and that it will be more than happy to facilitate that engagement.
Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said at a media briefing that India has been in ”close touch” with all concerned including the US, Russia and the European Union as it has a ”stake” in the region. ”We have maintained that the parties need to talk to each other, parties need to be engaged and if there is anything that we can do to facilitate that engagement, we are more than happy to do. As we go along, we will try and be as helpful as possible,” Shringla said.
Speaks to Counterparts from Romania, Hungary and Slovakia
Jaishankar also spoke to his counterparts from Romania, Hungary and Slovakia on the evacuation of stranded Indians from Ukraine.
“Just spoke to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of Russia on the Ukraine developments. Underlined that dialogue and diplomacy are the best way forward,” he tweeted. As Ukraine closed its airspace following the Russian military assault, India is focusing on evacuating around 16,000 Indians from Ukraine through its land border crossings with Romania, Hungary, Slovak Republic and Poland.
“Deeply appreciate the support from FM @BogdanAurescu of Romania on evacuating Indian nationals from Ukraine. @MEAIndia is working with @MAERomania to ensure border crossing expeditiously. Times of difficulty-that’s what friends are for,” Jaishankar tweeted. He also said that Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto promised full cooperation to facilitate the evacuation of Indians.
“Reached out to my friend FM Pter Szijjrt of Hungary on the Ukraine evacuation. He has promised full cooperation to facilitate evacuation from Debrecen. Thank him for his understanding,” Jaishankar said in another tweet. The external affairs minister also appreciated the willingness of his Slovak counterpart to help in facilitating the evacuation of Indian nationals through Slovakia.
“Spoke to FM @IvanKorcok. Discussed the situation in Ukraine. Appreciate his willingness to facilitate the evacuation of Indian nationals through Slovakia,” he said.The Indian embassy in Poland said a camp office is being set up at Krakowiec on the Polish-Ukrainian border that will facilitate transit through Poland to India.
On Western sanctions on Russia, the foreign secretary said certain unilateral sanctions were already existing and that some additional sanctions have now been imposed. ”But this is an evolving situation as I said and we have to see what sort of impact these sanctions will have on our own interests. Clearly, we need to study this carefully because any sanction will have an impact on our existing relationship. I think it would only be correct to acknowledge that factor,” he said.
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