Kazan: The Russia-Ukraine conflict should be resolved in a peaceful manner and India is ready to provide all possible cooperation towards it, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday during his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Modi held bilateral talks with Putin hours after arriving in this central Russian city to attend the 16th BRICS summit.
In his televised opening remarks, the prime minister conveyed to the Russian leader that New Delhi "fully supports" the early return of peace and stability in the region. Modi also said that his second visit to Russia in the last three months reflected "close" coordination and "deep trust" between the two countries.
"We are in constant touch on the issue of ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. As I said earlier, we believe that problems should be resolved in a peaceful manner," the prime minister said. "We fully support the early return of peace and stability. All our efforts give priority to humanity. India is ready to provide all possible cooperation in times to come," he said.
"We have the opportunity to discuss all these issues," he added. On his part, Putin noted the "good condition" of trade turnover between Russia and India. In his remarks, Modi also referred to his summit talks with the Russian leader in Moscow in July. Our annual summit resulted in strengthening cooperation in every field, he said.
The prime minister also congratulated Putin on Russia's successful presidency of BRICS. Many countries want to join the grouping now, he added. "It is a matter of great pleasure for me to have the opportunity to visit a beautiful city like Kazan for the BRICS summit. India has deep and historical ties with this city," Modi said.
"The opening of India's new consulate in Kazan will further strengthen these ties," he added. It is learnt that the Ukraine conflict figured prominently at the meeting. In the summit talks on July 9 in Moscow, Modi told Putin that a solution to the Ukraine conflict is not possible on the battlefield and peace efforts do not succeed in the midst of bombs and bullets. Weeks later he travelled to Ukraine.
In his talks with Zelenskyy, Modi said both Ukraine and Russia should sit together without wasting time to end the ongoing war and that India was ready to play an "active role" to restore peace in the region. India has been maintaining that the conflict in Ukraine must be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.
