Days after Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi and China's President Xi Jinping expressed their concerns about the war in Ukraine with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the SCO summit in Samarkhand, the tyrant of the Kremlin has raised the military stakes in the conflict.
At the PMO, policies are framed by factoring in analytical perspectives, implications, sustainability, and other dimensions.
At the same time, it is learnt that Indian officials in Ukraine are facing growing complexities to evacuate the Indians to the neighbouring countries with Russian forces closing in on Ukrainian capital Kyiv and targeting several other key cities by land and air.
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarks on a tour of three European nations, India on Sunday once again called for the cessation of hostilities in Ukraine and resolution of the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy, noting that was an appreciation of its position on the crisis by its partner countries.
India abstained in the United Nations General Assembly on a resolution that demanded Israel end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory within 12 months, with Delhi underlining that it is a strong advocate of 'dialogue and diplomacy' and efforts should be made towards 'building bridges', 'not furthering divides'.
'The cooperation in technology is one of the most important aspects of the visit.' 'It will have a long-lasting impact because it will shift the entire paradigm in the context of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies.'
India believes no country would emerge victorious in the Russia-Ukraine war as all will suffer losses and there will be a "more serious" impact on developing and poor countries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday after holding talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz as both leaders reiterated the need for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
PM Modi went to New York this time not to engage in polemics, but to find solutions to global problems. He made some progress on several matters, even on reform of the UN Security Council, when the US made a major concession for the first time that six permanent members without veto, including India, could be considered
Biden previously stated he did not believe the Russian leader had made up his mind but acknowledged his insights into Putin's thinking were limited.
The Russian defence ministry on Wednesday said its armed forces are ready to take all necessary measures for the safe evacuation of Indian citizens from the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday during which he reiterated India's long-standing position on the Ukraine situation, favouring dialogue and diplomacy.
India on Friday said it was in touch with Moscow for early 'discharge' of Indians working as support staff to Russian Army and urged its nationals to stay away from the conflict zone in Ukraine.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday said he views the current situation in Ukraine as an issue of humanity and human values and not of politics or economy even as he called for respecting international law, sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, meanwhile, said the sixth flight under India's evacuation mission 'Operation Ganga' left for Delhi from Budapest with 240 Indian nationals.
The BSE benchmark Sensex plummeted about 383 points to close at 57,300-level on Tuesday, tracking massive selloffs in global markets. After sinking about 1,300 points in early deals, the Sensex staged a sharp recovery but still ended 382.91 points or 0.66 per cent lower at 57,300.68. The NSE Nifty too reclaimed part of its early losses before closing 114.45 points or 0.67 per cent lower at 17,092.20. On the Sensex chart, Tata Steel, TCS and SBI fell the most, losing as much as 3.64 per cent. Of the 30 Sensex constituents, 20 closed in the red. "Escalations in Ukraine tensions with Russia recognising two pro-Russian rebel regions have aggravated the crisis. "The economic consequences are already visible in higher crude and gold prices," VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said.
Ukraine has rejected Putin's demand and termed it a 'complete sham' and 'offensive to common sense'.
Indian evacuation flights are operating out of Bucharest and Budapest. The government is not charging the rescued citizens for the evacuation flights.
A day after suffering their worst session in about two years, benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty rebounded up to 2.5 per cent on Friday, in line with higher global markets as the US and allies put up a united front to punish Russia with harsher sanctions over the Ukraine conflict. Snapping their seven-day losing streak, the BSE Sensex climbed 1,328.61 points or 2.44 per cent to settle at 55,858.52, while the NSE Nifty went soared 410.45 points or 2.53 per cent to 16,658.40. Barring HUL and Nestle, all Sensex shares closed with gains -- with Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, NTPC and Tech Mahindra surging as much as 6.54 per cent.
Jaiswal also referred to his earlier comments that 20-odd Indians have approached the Indian embassy in Moscow.
India abstained in the United Nations General Assembly on a draft resolution calling for Russia to be held accountable for violations of international law by its invasion of Ukraine and requiring Moscow to pay reparations to Kyiv for damages, loss and injury resulting from the war.
Zelenskyy named Warsaw, Bratislava, Istanbul, Budapest or Baku as alternative venues.
Top external affairs ministry officials on Monday briefed a parliamentary panel about efforts to bring back Indians stranded in war-hit Ukraine, including plans for 13 evacuation flights in the next two-three days to its neighbouring countries and subsequent increase in the number of daily flights to nine, sources said.
The plan was to equip the Su-30 aircraft with more powerful radars and the latest electronic warfare capabilities to make it more powerful as per the latest standards, the sources said.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday called upon the top military brass to analyse the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza as well as the current situation in Bangladesh to "predict" any future problems and stay prepared to deal with the "unexpected".
Jaishankar, who met Guterres at the UN headquarters in New York, also discussed other issues, including India's presidency of the G20 and the Ukraine conflict, with the UN chief.
The Karnataka government on Saturday said the mortal remains of a medical student from the state, who was killed in Russian shelling in war-torn Ukraine, is expected to reach the airport in Bengaluru early on March 21, and all the documentations required for transportation have been completed.
The UK government has taken the unusual step of making a formal statement to warn of a Russian plot to install a pro-Kremlin leader in Ukraine amid growing tensions in the region.
President of the European Council Charles Michel on Tuesday spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and conveyed his condolences over the death of Naveen Shekarappa Gyanagoudar, a native of Karnataka.
Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya told the UN Security Council briefing on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine on Monday that "Ukraine deeply regrets that more than 2,000 citizens of India, China, Turkey, Pakistan and other countries suffer today along with Ukrainians from Russian aggression."
Emphasising that various issues are on agenda at the G20 under India's leadership.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that if 'negotiations' with Russian President Vladimir Putin fail then 'that would mean that this is a third World War'.
'While on the one hand, terrorism continues to be a serious threat to global peace and security, on the other hand, areas such as cyber, maritime and space, are emerging as new theatres of conflict'
United States President Joe Biden will travel to India from September 7 to 10 to attend the G-20 Leaders' Summit during which he will discuss with other leaders a range of global challenges, including the Ukraine conflict, the White House announced on Tuesday.
The visit next week, which is yet to be formally announced by Downing Street, follows the successful completion of four out of 26 chapters in the ongoing India-UK free trade agreement negotiations.
The India-Japan global partnership is based on shared democratic values and respect for the rule of law and promotes peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday after holding wide-ranging talks with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida.
Zelenskyy, while addressing a press conference, disputed Russian claims of much higher numbers when it comes to Ukrainian casualties.
'Unsurprisingly, Trump shared Modi's podcast with Fridman on his Truth account.' 'The intentions of Trump, a transactional president, are never easy to tell.' 'We will know in the next fortnight if and when he unfolds reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods, whether Modi's flattering words made any significant difference to Trump's compass,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The increase in India's military spending was "mainly a result of growing personnel and operations costs" which made up almost 80 percent of the total military budget in 2023, the SIPRI report claimed.
The Russia-Ukraine war is likely to improve the export profile of landlocked Chhattisgarh, which has already nearly tripled during the past three years. Chhattisgarh's exports reached Rs 25,241.13 crore in the financial year 2021-22 against Rs 9,067.92 crore worth of products shipped in 2019-20, according to the state government's data. While exports of iron and steel surged seven and a half times, rice shipping increased 4.68 times.
Jaishankar also spoke about how he expected a change in Russia's direction towards the rest of the world and it may likely want multiple options in Asia.
