Washington DC:
India is not neutral, was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s strong message on the Russia-Ukraine war during a meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House today. He reiterated that India stands with peace, appreciating Trump’s efforts to bring an end to the war.
“India is not neutral. India is siding with peace. I have already said to President Putin that this is not the era of war. I support the efforts taken by President Trump,” the Prime Minister said.
His remarks came a day after Trump held separate phone calls with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky. His move came as a shock to Ukraine and European allies, with many insisting they and Kyiv must have a seat at the negotiating table.
In their first confirmed contact since Trump’s return to the White House, the US president said he had held a “highly productive” conversation with his Russian counterpart who ordered the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
On Thursday, Trump insisted Ukraine will be “part of” negotiations and that he was convinced Putin “wants peace”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and India have been stressing that this is “not an era of war but of dialogue and diplomacy”. Since the Ukraine conflict began in February last year, PM Modi has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a number of times.
He also met the two leaders separately last year.
PM Modi met US President Donald Trump and his close aide and billionaire Elon Musk today. “He is a great friend of mine. For a long time we’ve had a wonderful relationship,” Trump said as he greeted PM Modi in the Oval Office for a visit that he promised would bring “some great” trade deals.
Their meeting came hours after the US President announced reciprocal tariffs on all countries, including India. New Delhi, however, is hoping to avoid further levies that Trump says are needed to counter the US trade deficit.
Prime Minister Modi is the fourth world leader to visit Trump since his return, following the prime ministers of Israel and Japan, and the king of Jordan.