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United Nations, December 2
India is speaking to both sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, country's Permanent Representative at the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj has said, asserting that New Delhi's position has not been "passive" on the war.
The President of the Security Council for December said India had taken the side of peace and favoured de-escalation through diplomacy and dialogue.
India on Thursday assumed the Presidency of the 15-nation UN Security Council for the month of December, during which it will host signature events on countering terrorism and reformed multilateralism.
The Presidency will bring the curtains down on India's two-year tenure as an elected non-permanent member of the powerful UN organ.
Responding to a question at a press briefing here on Thursday, Kamboj asserted that New Delhi shares an important relationship with Moscow.
“India is too big a country. It stands tall and proud on its own. In the course of the conflict in Ukraine, we have been very clear and consistent right from the outset. We have spoken in one voice that we are for peace. Peace is also a side and we favour diplomacy and dialogue,” Kamboj said.
Kamboj was responding to remarks by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that NATO was trying to drag India into what he called an anti-Russian and anti-Chinese alliance and on India's relations with Russia and the West during the Ukraine war.
She said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar are “speaking to both sides".
“We are among the few countries, dare I say, which are speaking to both sides,” she said, adding that Modi's comment that “this is not an era of war” has received global acceptance and even found its way into the G20 declaration that was recently adopted in Bali.
India has been very mindful of the humanitarian situation and has shipped 12 medical consignments to Ukraine and given financial assistance to build educational institutions, she said.
“At the same time, we do have a relationship with Russia, an important relationship with Russia. And as far as the relationship with the United States is concerned, it's a comprehensive strategic partnership, which has never been closer, tighter, or stronger than it is today,” she said.
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