New Delhi: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Russian President Vladimir Putin that now is not a time for war, with food, fertiliser and fuel security among the major concerns of the world at present.
“I know that today’s era is not an era of war, and I have spoken to you on the phone about this,” Modi told Putin on the sidelines of a regional security bloc summit in Uzbekistan, adding that democracy, diplomacy and dialogue keep the world together.
Putin said that he understood Modi’s concerns about the Ukraine war. “I know about your position on the conflict in Ukraine, and I know about your concerns. We want all of this to end as soon as possible.”
Putin, who met Chinese President Xi Jinping at the summit, acknowledged on Wednesday Beijing’s concerns about the war.
Modi and Putin spoke on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting, whose permanent members, besides India, include China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
“Our trade is growing, thanks to your additional supplies of Russian fertilisers to the Indian markets, which have grown more than eight fold. I am hopeful that this is going to be of huge help of the agricultural sector of India,” Putin said.
It is necessary to mention here that the US House of Representative has passed a legislative amendment that would protect India from punitive sanctions for buying missiles from Russia.
The India-specific amendment, passed still has to go through the Senate before it’s signed by President Joe Biden.
Authored and introduced by Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna, it urges the Biden administration to give India a waiver to the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which can bring immediate sanctions against New Delhi for buying weapons from Moscow. Reuters
