S Jaishankar also held a “productive” roundtable meeting with CEOs in Malaysia. (File)
Kuala Lumpur:
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Wednesday said India’s position in the Russia-Ukraine conflict has been that no solution can be found on the battlefield and New Delhi wants to find a way to end this conflict.
Replying to a question on India’s stand on the Russia-Ukraine conflict during his interaction with the Indian expatriates here in the Malaysian capital, S. Jaishankar said there are “no winners in a conflict”.
“We have taken the position from the beginning that you will not get a solution to this conflict on the battlefield,” he said.
“In the end, every party and many innocent bystanders or other nations are also ruined or affected. Somehow through conflict. So our position here has been to find a way to bring this conflict to a successful conclusion. “To be honest, this wasn’t a very popular position in some quarters at the time.”
On the conflict between Israel and Hamas, S. Jaishankar said what happened on October 7 was terrorism, referring to the multi-front attack by the Palestinian group in southern Israel.
“On the other hand, no one would tolerate, you know, the death of innocent civilians. Countries can at least be justified in their own thoughts and response, but you can’t get a response that doesn’t take into account something called international humanitarian law. ” he said.
“And the fact is that regardless of the rights and wrongs of the issue, there is the underlying issue of the rights of the Palestinians and the fact that they have been denied their homeland,” he added.
“We have also been the country that has the opportunity to talk very honestly and bluntly with the Russians about this (Ukraine) issue and about various aspects. You know, others have used us to relay messages. And by the way, the same applies. when it also concerns the conflict between Gaza and Israel,” he said.
Speaking on the occasion, S. Jaishankar said that India and Malaysia are ‘pluralistic’ by nature. He also spoke about his meeting with Malaysia’s top leadership and hoped that ties would be further strengthened.
He also held a “productive” roundtable with CEOs in Malaysia.
“Happy to hear about the growing interest in collaboration with Indian industries. Encouraged them to participate in India’s growth story. Discussed geopolitical developments that can provide more opportunities in India-Malaysia business interactions,” he said in a message on X.
The minister also met with Malaysian Indian Congress President SA Vigneswaran and members of the bloc and thanked them for their continued support in nurturing closer ties between India and Malaysia.
“Earlier today received YB Senator @KSaraswathy24, Vice President of @KEADILAN and other senior members in Kuala Lumpur. I appreciated their commitment to deepening India-Malaysia cooperation in various domains,” he said in another post.
S Jaishankar is in Kuala Lumpur for the third and final leg of his three-country trip to Singapore, Philippines and Malaysia.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by WhatsNew2Day staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)