Pointing out that India has since the beginning of the war in Ukraine last year laid emphasis on resolving the dispute through dialogue and diplomacy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that New Delhi was ready to contribute to any peace process to resolve the crisis.

At a joint media interaction with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz after wide-ranging talks between the two leaders, Modi said the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine had impacted the whole world, especially the developing world. He said he fully endorsed the view that the crisis in Europe could be resolved through joint efforts. India, he said, was emphasising this during its G-20 presidency too.

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The remarks by the PM came a day after India abstained from voting on another resolution moved in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) which demanded Russia “immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine” and called for the cessation of hostilities.

On his part, the German chancellor, who is on a two-day visit to India, said that the war in Ukraine violated a fundamental principle that “you do not change borders through the use of violence”. India, he said, has the presidency of G20 this year, a very responsible task at a difficult point in time. ”But I’m confident that Indians will fully comply with what needs to be done in that regard.”

On the question of securing the supply of food and energy, the German leader said, “We have to make sure that countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America are not too strongly and negatively impacted by the terrible war of aggression that Russia started against Ukraine, and that the impact is not too negative for them.”

Terming the war in Ukraine a “major catastrophe” and a ”disaster”, he said it had led to immense losses and the destruction of infrastructure, rail links and grids. He said that international law governed international relations and provided the basis for international actions. “It is important that in the United Nations, we time and again, state very clearly where we stand on this subject matter. The world is suffering as a consequence of Russia’s aggression,” he said.

Modi said he and Chancellor Scholz shared the view that there was a need for reforming multilateral institutions to better reflect current-day realities.

On relations with Germany, the Indian leader said security and defence cooperation could become important pillars of the strategic partnership between the two nations. The two countries, he said, would continue to make efforts to fully realise the untapped potential in strategic areas.

Noting that India and Germany were interacting closely to check terrorism and radicalism, Modi said the two countries were of the view that there was a need to take firm steps to check cross-border terrorism. ”India and Germany have strong ties based on shared democratic values and deep understanding of each other’s interests,” he added. Modi stressed that cooperation between India and Germany was not only beneficial for the two nations but for the whole world.

The German chancellor said India has achieved an enormous rise and that was very good for the relations between both countries. ”We need talent, we need skilled workers. The development of IT & software is booming in India and many capable companies are here in India. India has so much talent and we want to benefit from that corporation. We want to recruit and attract that talent in Germany,” he said.