Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s advice to Russian President Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine war during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit at Samarkand in Uzbekistan has grabbed the attention of leading international media organisations.
“Today’s era is not of war and I have spoken to you about it on the call. Today we will get the opportunity to talk about how we can progress on the path of peace. India and Russia have stayed together with each other for several decades,” PM Modi told Putin expressing his concerns about the impact of the war on food and energy security.
“We spoke several times on the phone about India-Russia bilateral relations and various issues. We should find ways to address the problems of food, fuel security and fertilizers. I want to thank Russia and Ukraine for helping us to evacuate our students from Ukraine,” the Prime Minister added.
International media praised PM Modi’s diplomatic acumen, who in a friendly tone pushed the concerns of the global community to its long-standing friend Russia.
American publication -CNN praised PM Modi’s hold on world politics and reported ” Indian leader Narendra Modi tells Putin: Now is not the time for war”
While in another leading US publication Washington Post, the headline was “Modi rebukes Putin over war in Ukraine”.
“India’s Leader Tells Putin That Now Is Not an Era for War,” The New York Times said in its headline.
It was the lead story on the webpage of both The Washington Post and The New York Times.
Meanwhile, the leading Japanese publication, NHK’s headline was “Indian PM Modi tells Putin to pursue peace”, while Hong Kong-based leading daily South China Morning Post reported: Now is ‘not a time for war’, India’s Modi tells Russia’s Putin who vows to ‘end this as soon as possible.’
Other publications like Politico in US reported; “India’s Modi tells Putin: This is ‘not the era for war” and US News headlines was “Indian PM Modi Tells Russia’s Putin Now ‘Is Not an Era of War”.
The statements were made by PM Modi during a face-to-face meeting on Friday, on the sidelines of the SCO summit, and highlighted Russia’s increasing isolation on the diplomatic stage. They came just a day after Putin conceded that China had “questions and concerns” over the invasion.
Responding to PM Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he knows about India’s position on the Ukraine conflict and “we want all of this to end as soon as possible”.
“I know about your position on the Ukraine conflict. I know about your concerns. We want all of this to end as soon as possible,” Putin said.
“But the other party, the leadership of Ukraine has claimed… that they refuse to engage in the negotiation process. They said they want to achieve their objectives, as they say, on the battlefield militarily. We will keep you abreast of everything that is happening over there,” the Russian President added.
“The rare reproach showed the 69-year-old Russian strongman coming under extraordinary pressure from all sides,” the Post said.
Putin said that relations between Russia and India are in the nature of a privileged strategic partnership and continue to develop very rapidly.
“We are actively engaging at international platforms. We are in discussion on international issues. Sometimes these issues are something that is not very good news…,” he said.
The meeting comes as heavy shelling continues in areas of southern and eastern Ukraine that have been taken back from Russian forces.
Ukrainian officials said they had uncovered at least 440 graves at a mass burial site in the city of Izium in the recently liberated Kharkiv region.
