India is willing to do whatever it can to facilitate a solution to the Ukraine crisis , External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday, as he highlighted how India pressed Moscow on the safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine when the two countries stepped up fighting nℱear the hig🀅hly sensitive facility.
Jaishankar, who is here on his first visit to New Zealand as the External Affairs Minister, during a lengt🍌hy interaction with Simon Bridges, the CEO of Auckland Business Chamber, said when it comes to Ukraine, it is natural that different countries and different regions would react a little differently.
The people will view it from their viewpoint, their immediate interest, historical experiences, th✨eir insecurities, he said.
"To me, the divers🥂ities of the world which are quite evident will also naturally lead to a differential response and I would not disrespect the position of other countries as I can see that many of them are coming from their threat perception, their anxiety, their equities in Ukraine," he said.
In this situation, Jaishnakar said he woul🐠d see what India can do, "which obviou൲sly would be in the Indian interest, but also in the best interest of the world."
"When I was in the United Nations, the big concern at that time was the safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant because there was some fighting going on 🍒in the very proximity to it."
"There was a request to us to press the Russians on that issue which we did. There have been other concerns at various points of time, either different countries have raised with us or the UN has raised with us. I think at this time whatever we can do, we will be willing to do,"𝓰; Jaishankar said.
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power S🌟tation in southeastern Ukraine is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.
"If we take up a position and voice our views, I don't think countries wo🌞uld disregard that. and that we were visible in a meeting between my Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and President (Vladimir) Putin," he said, referring to the meeting between the two top leaders in 🦩Asthana on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on September 16.
Brief on Russia Ukraine war
It has now been over seven months since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in the early hours of February⭕ 24.
Russia’s invasion has sparked into the biggest war on a European state sinc𓄧e World War II. The war has left over 10 million people displaced, several Ukrainian towns and cities have been besieged and bombarded beyond recognition, and hundreds of civilians have been killed.
S Jaishankar on India’s aspiration to become UNSC’s permanent member
He also talked about India's aspira🔜tion to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council, saying big proඣblems of the day cannot be solved by one, two or even five countries.
"And when we look at the reforms, we have an i🔯nterest in becoming a permanent member of the security council. It is also because we think in different ways and we voice🔯 the interests and aspirations of a broad set of countries," he said.
S Jaishankar on climate change
He spoke about climate change and th🐈e Covid pandemic to highlight the discriminatory policies.
"If you travel today, especially to South Africa, there is a very strong sense of anger about how they have been treated during the pandemic. And today that sense of frustration that the world is not listening to, I see in respect of issues like food and fuel," he said.
He said there is a feelin💯g that their inability to deal with the daily necessities of life is disregarded by more established or powerful nations arou🌳nd the world.
"We have tended to look naturally at Ukraine to some degree as a kin💦d of an East-West issue. I think there is a north-south aspect to the consequences of the Ukraine conflict," he added.
"For us when you look at reformed global architecture, we say very clearly that India should be in the reformed security council. But we say equally strongly, that the entire continent of Africa has been excluded, and Latin America has bee🉐n excluded," he added.
Somewhere the system has also to cater not necessarily to the big guns if t🔥here has 🐠to be a larger legitimacy, Jaishankar added.
There is a larger issue here, there ꦬis an aspect of fairnღess and justice.
S Jaishankar on ties with New Zealand
On ⛎ties with New Zealand, he said: "Oppo๊rtunities to work together are far more realistic and practical."
"We need to look at each other very objectively, creatively and positively and what are the strengths we should play and try to build a stronger relationship," he 🐲said.
He said one area of focus in bilateral ties with New𒁏 Zealand wo𓆏uld be business.
Jaishankar said stronger business ties do not require to have an FTA (♛Free Trade Agreement) and gave the example of the European Union, the US and China with which India does not have an FTA.
How can we grow our business collaborat♔ion is the number one challenge, Jaishank🅰ar said.
He said other areas of collaboration with New Zealand would be educat꧒ion and digital collaboration, climate, security and well-being of the region.
He said the world has seen multiple stress tes🦩ts since 2019 like Covid-19, the Afghanistan crisis and now the Ukraine coౠnflict.
Together each one of them, one on top of 🍌each other, has put the world under ♍difficult circumstances, he said.
"It is very important today to recognise🅺 that and understand that there are a lot of countries who are looking at the future and deeply worried about their ability to get fuel, food, fertiliser or finances for the people," the minister said.
"It is a difficult moment and when times are difficult it is equally important that those who have some capabilities to be part of the solution should step forward and do what they can. Each🐎 one of us may not be able to change the world by ourselves but by working together we kind of multiply the abilities," he said.
A go💯od example was raised during the COVID-19 pa🥀ndemic, he said.
"We were one of the biggest manufacturers of vaccines and even when we were vaccinating our own people we took a very conscious decision that we would help others and we prioritised countries that we helped th💧at would not have fair access to vacܫcines," he said.
"In this region, we gave vaccines 🍒to Fiji and the Solomon isꦫlands," he said.
"We need a kind of collaborative neighbourhood watch approach 🐻to the region (Indo-Paci𝔍fic) where those who are comfortable with each other are prepared to work for the betterment of the region," he said.
S Jaishankar on QUAD
Responding to a question about the existence of a binary view in the world and India’s position in that, Jaishank🍌ar believed that the binary view is “outdated”.
"And quite honestly in the defence of the US, they do꧅n't hold the binary view anymore. In fact, one of the changes we have seen in the last few years is the US is much more open towards working with countries outside the traditional alliance or treaty relationships," he said.
"So, you have mechanisms like the QUAD, which involves some traditional allies of the US but also countries like India, which has historically stayed away from alli💧ances and treaties," he added.
"My sense why we should put the binary framework to rest is if you look today at the distribution of power, if you look at the major economies of the world... I would argue that there has been a much flatter d🧸istribution of power in the last 30-40 years," he said.
(With PTI inputs)
