NEW DELHI: External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Friday addressed a press briefing where he answered concerns by foreign reporters regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s recent diplomatic engagements, particularly his visit to Russia in July. PM Modi visited Ukraine after Western criticism of his hug with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Also read: After PM Modi’s trip to Russia that caused ripples, Rajnath headed for US
Addressing a question by a BBC reporter who claimed that many were “very upset” to see the interaction between PM Modi and Putin, Jaishankar highlighted the “cultural differences” between the West and the East.
“In our part of the world, when people meet people, they are given to embracing each other. It may not be part of your culture, but I assure you it’s part of ours,” the EAM said.
Jaishankar further pointed out that Prime Minister Modi also embraced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy when the two leaders met on August 23.
“Today I think I saw the prime minister also embrace President Zelenskyy and I’ve seen him do it with a number of other leaders in a number of other places,” he said.
“I think perhaps we have a slightly cultural gap here in terms of what these courtesies mean,” he added.
Responding to a question by a reporter on whether India would impose sanctions on Russia, in light of the Ukraine war, Jaishankar said that Sanctions are not a part of India’s “political, dipolmatic history”.
“In India we do not impose sanctions on any country. It’s not part of our political, diplomatic history, if at all there are sanctions. I mean, we generally look at UN sanctions. Those are the sanctions that we respect,” he said.
In his press briefing, Jaishankar said that the talks between PM Modi and President Zelenskyy focused on strengthening bilateral relations across sectors like defence, trade, and education. Modi, the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Ukraine since 1992, arrived in Kyiv by special train and met with the Indian community and Hindi-studying Ukrainian students, marking a significant diplomatic milestone.
Jaishankar’s comments come after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia in July and Ukraine in August as the two countries have been engaged in what Putin described as a “special military operation” in Kyiv. The war which has been going on for over two years started in February 2022.
Also read: After PM Modi’s trip to Russia that caused ripples, Rajnath headed for US
Addressing a question by a BBC reporter who claimed that many were “very upset” to see the interaction between PM Modi and Putin, Jaishankar highlighted the “cultural differences” between the West and the East.
“In our part of the world, when people meet people, they are given to embracing each other. It may not be part of your culture, but I assure you it’s part of ours,” the EAM said.
Jaishankar further pointed out that Prime Minister Modi also embraced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy when the two leaders met on August 23.
“Today I think I saw the prime minister also embrace President Zelenskyy and I’ve seen him do it with a number of other leaders in a number of other places,” he said.
“I think perhaps we have a slightly cultural gap here in terms of what these courtesies mean,” he added.
Responding to a question by a reporter on whether India would impose sanctions on Russia, in light of the Ukraine war, Jaishankar said that Sanctions are not a part of India’s “political, dipolmatic history”.
“In India we do not impose sanctions on any country. It’s not part of our political, diplomatic history, if at all there are sanctions. I mean, we generally look at UN sanctions. Those are the sanctions that we respect,” he said.
In his press briefing, Jaishankar said that the talks between PM Modi and President Zelenskyy focused on strengthening bilateral relations across sectors like defence, trade, and education. Modi, the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Ukraine since 1992, arrived in Kyiv by special train and met with the Indian community and Hindi-studying Ukrainian students, marking a significant diplomatic milestone.
Jaishankar’s comments come after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia in July and Ukraine in August as the two countries have been engaged in what Putin described as a “special military operation” in Kyiv. The war which has been going on for over two years started in February 2022.