The British minister said she had spoken with S Jaishankar to encourage an anti-Russia stance. (representative)
London:
Britain said on Monday that India’s stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict was the result of its reliance on Russia and therefore the way forward would be to ensure closer economic and defense ties between India and the UK.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was asked about India’s stance during a hearing of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the British Parliament (FAC), the influential cross-party panel responsible for examining the administration and policies of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
The minister confirmed that she had spoken with Foreign Minister S Jaishankar to take a stance against Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
“I have spoken with my counterpart, Minister Jaishankar, and encouraged India to turn against Russia and made it very clear that we see this as a violation of sovereignty, which any country that believes in freedom and democracy should absolutely abhor.” said Truss.
“I think the problem for India is that there is a degree of dependence on Russia, both in its defense relations and in its economic relations. And I think the way forward is for a closer economic and defense relationship with India. Both through the United Kingdom as our like-minded allies,” she said.
Referring to the ongoing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations, which entered second phase in London on Monday, the minister said the aim was to bring India closer to a circle of democratic nations.
“I’ve been to India as foreign minister. We’re working on those closer security ties, we’ve done joint exercises – for example, we’ve had the Carrier Strike Group operate with India. We’re looking at areas like security, we’re negotiating a trade deal now – – this is how we are going to bring India closer to a circle of countries that support freedom, democracy and sovereignty,” the minister added.
The FAC’s chairman, Conservative Party MP Tom Tugendhat, had specifically asked Truss for her opinion on why she thought India “didn’t vote with the other 141 countries” against Russia.
India has so far abstained from voting on all Ukraine-related votes condemning Russia’s conduct at the UN, including on a resolution in the Security Council, the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council. It has stressed the need for an immediate end to violence in favor of a path of diplomacy.
(This story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and was generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
