India, China agree on need for immediate ceasefire in Ukraine

NEW DELHI, (PTI): With the Ukraine crisis triggering a geopolitical turmoil, India and China on Friday agreed on the need for an immediate ceasefire and a return to the path of diplomacy and dialogue to defuse the conflict.

The issue figured during the three-hour talks between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his visiting Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

”Wang Yi presented the Chinese understanding, the Chinese view of the situation developed there and the developments pertaining to it, and I presented the Indian view,” Jaishankar said at a media briefing.

The external affairs minister said both sides discussed their respective approaches and perspectives and agreed that diplomacy and dialogue must be the priority.

”I think, the Indian view, many of you may have heard me speak about it yesterday in Parliament as well. And obviously, what he said was his view and what I said was my view, but where we had a common element was that both of us agreed on the importance of an immediate ceasefire as well as a return to diplomacy and dialogue,” he said.

The external affairs minister said in Parliament on Thursday that India’s position on the Russia-Ukraine conflict has been ”steadfast and consistent” and that it wants resolution of the conflict through talks.

India has not criticised Russia yet for its invasion of Ukraine and also abstained from voting at the UN platforms in condemning the Russian attack.

China has close ties with Russia and it has been giving signals about its willingness to assist Moscow in offsetting the impact of economic sanctions announced by the US and other Western countries following the Russian attack on Ukraine.

Asked whether the topic of Quad was raised by the Chinese foreign minister, Jaishankar said, ”No, it was not raised. So, there was no conversation on Quad.” To a separate question, Jaishankar said the issue of Indo-Pacific too did not figure.

”We also spent some time on multilateral issues. I emphasized the need to take forward the long-overdue reform of the UN system, including the Security Council,” Jaishankar said. (PTI)