New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Jaishankar is in Paris to attend the European Union (EU) Ministerial Forum for Cooperation in Indo-Pacific, which is slated to take place in Paris today. Foreign ministers from the EU and 30 other countries are also attending the forum. Jaishankar's visit to Paris comes at a time the world is staring at a war-like situation arising out of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. All eyes are on India's position on the deepening crisis between Russia and Ukraine at the EU Ministerial Forum on Indo-Pacific today.
Asked if Delhi will be under pressure from the European countries at forum, former ambassador to Georgia and Armenia, Achal Malhotra, while speaking to ETV Bharat, said, "There is no other issue on which the forum could pressurise India. Ukraine is one issue on which the EU Foreign ministers may like to persuade India to come and speak openly in the voice of the Americans and the NATO allies. But India has made its position amply clear that the country is not going to take sides and it is not because India likes to sit on the fence".
"The fact of the matter is India has considered the opinion that it has to exercise its 'strategic autonomy' in taking its own decisions. India has long been insisting on 'quiet and constructive diplomacy'. The word 'quiet' is important because the Americans and the Europeans have been creating all sorts of noises about the possibility of Russia invading Ukraine and the war hysteria all over the world", he added.
Malhotra underlined that India has been emphasising that whatever negotiated settlements have to come, must come in such a way that all legitimate security interests of everybody concerned must be addressed. He noted that NATO allies do not face any military threats from Russia per se, nor has Russia given any indication that it is going to pose any military threat to any of the existing NATO members.
"Whereas, Russia has legitimate concern arising out of the fact that NATO can come and sits in the backyard if Georgia or Ukraine become its members," he added. Therefore, he said, India has taken a very clear stance and it is not sitting on the fence. "At the EU Ministerial forum on Indo-Pacific, India is very unlikely to be critical of what Russia has done by way of recognising the rebel regions-Donetsk, Luhansk of Eastern Ukraine as independent", Malhotra said.
"This was Russia's predetermined plan to first create a situation, where there would be charges of Russia being aggressive towards Ukraine and then shift the focus to the Eastside", he pointed out.