India, France voice 'serious concern' over Ukraine conflict, call for immediate cessation of hostilities

Expressing serious concern over the RussiaUkraine conflict India and France have called for an immediate cessation of hostilities to bring parties together to promote dialogue and diplomacy for finding an immediate end to the suffering of the peopleThe two countries called for promoting dialogue and diplomacy in a joint statement issued after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron here on WednesdayThe two leaders discussed at length bilateral as well as global issues and agreed on an ambitious agenda for the next phase of the IndiaFrance Strategic PartnershipAccording to the joint statement France reiterated its strong condemnation of the unlawful and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine by Russian Forces India and France expressed serious concern at the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine it saidThey unequivocally condemned civilian deaths in Ukraine and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities to bring parties together to promote dialogue and diplomacy to find an immediate end to the suffering of the people the statement saidBoth countries also underlined the need to respect the UN Charter international law and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states it said Modi and Macron discussed the regional and global implications of the conflict in Ukraine and agreed to intensify coordination on the issueIndia and France also expressed deep concern about the current aggravation of global food security and nutrition already impacted by the Covid19 pandemic and especially in developing countriesThe statement said the two countries are committed to enabling a coordinated multilateral response to address the risk of aggravated food crisis because of the conflict in Ukraine including through initiatives such as the Food and Agriculture Resilience Mission FARM which aims at ensuring wellfunctioning markets solidarity and longterm resilienceAt a media briefing on Prime Minister Modis visit to France Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said that on Ukraine there was a broad understanding of each others positionThe two leaders agreed that close coordination and engagement was important So that both India and France can play a constructive role in the evolving situation he said Asked whether there were any discussions on how India and France could use their friendship or their influence to bring this Russia and Ukraine war to some kind of a conclusion Kwatra said the developments in Ukraine did come up for discussion between the two leaders and they exchanged their perspectives on the developments therePrime Minister Modi gave a very elaborate understanding of the space from where Indian position originatedwhich calls for the immediate cessation of hostilities and the resolution to the ongoing situation through diplomacy and dialogue he said The two leaders also spoke very extensively exchanged views very extensively on the cascading effect of the situation in Ukraine in terms of global food shortages shortages of commodities such as fertiliser and how the two countries can partner together in order to address some of these challenges which are very real and felt on the ground Kwatra said There is a very clear understanding of each others position and they did agree to stay in touch and coordinate very closely So that as the situation evolves they can both individually or together play a constructive role in this situation so that all these challenges which I talked about can be resolved he saidPrime Minister Modi left for home early on Thursday after concluding his threenation European tour during which he held a series of bilateral meetings to boost ties in a range of areas including trade energy and green technology Modi who was in Paris for the final leg of his threenation European tour discussed with Macron issues of bilateral and mutual interests as well as regional and global developmentsMacron held a teteatete with Modi before the delegationlevel talks at the Elysee Palace the official residence of the French President Modis visit to Europe came amid the Ukraine crisis which has united much of the continent against Russia The Ukraine issue also figured prominently at the second IndiaNordic summit attended by Prime Minister Modi and his counterparts from Finland Iceland Sweden Norway and Denmark in Copenhagen on Wednesday Earlier in Berlin Modi had said that India believes no country will emerge victorious in the RussiaUkraine war as all will suffer losses and there will be a more serious impact on developing and poor countriesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever