News Analysis India

Tag: Ukraine war

  • India’s foreign Secy meets US Deputy Secy of State; talks on bilateral ties, Ukraine & Indo-Pacific

    By PTI

    WASHINGTON, D.C: Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra has met Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman here and discussed Indo-US ties and ways to further advance their bilateral security and regional cooperation, the situation in the Indo-Pacific region and Ukraine.

    During the meeting on Monday, Sherman underscored the US’s commitment to the people of Ukraine in the face of Russia’s illegal war of aggression, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said.

    “They also discussed ways to improve regional and multilateral coordination, including via the Quad partnership in the Indo-Pacific region,” he said.

    The Quad or Quadrilateral Security Dialogue comprising India, the United States, Japan and Australia was set up in 2017 to counter China’s aggressive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific region.

    The two leaders also “reaffirmed our shared commitment to democratic principles, regional security and prosperity, and strengthening people-to-people ties,” Price said.

    “Great meeting Indian Foreign Secretary @AmbVMKwatra to discuss #USIndia relations and advance our security and regional cooperation throughout the Indo-Pacific region and the world,” Sherman tweeted.

    India, the US and several other world powers have been talking about the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China’s rising military manoeuvring in the resource-rich region.

    China claims nearly all of the disputed South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it. Beijing has built artificial islands and military installations in the South China Sea. China also has territorial disputes with Japan in the East China Sea.

    Kwatra is on an official trip to the city. He arrived in Washington DC from New York on Sunday night.

    WASHINGTON, D.C: Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra has met Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman here and discussed Indo-US ties and ways to further advance their bilateral security and regional cooperation, the situation in the Indo-Pacific region and Ukraine.

    During the meeting on Monday, Sherman underscored the US’s commitment to the people of Ukraine in the face of Russia’s illegal war of aggression, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said.

    “They also discussed ways to improve regional and multilateral coordination, including via the Quad partnership in the Indo-Pacific region,” he said.

    The Quad or Quadrilateral Security Dialogue comprising India, the United States, Japan and Australia was set up in 2017 to counter China’s aggressive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific region.

    The two leaders also “reaffirmed our shared commitment to democratic principles, regional security and prosperity, and strengthening people-to-people ties,” Price said.

    “Great meeting Indian Foreign Secretary @AmbVMKwatra to discuss #USIndia relations and advance our security and regional cooperation throughout the Indo-Pacific region and the world,” Sherman tweeted.

    India, the US and several other world powers have been talking about the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China’s rising military manoeuvring in the resource-rich region.

    China claims nearly all of the disputed South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it. Beijing has built artificial islands and military installations in the South China Sea. China also has territorial disputes with Japan in the East China Sea.

    Kwatra is on an official trip to the city. He arrived in Washington DC from New York on Sunday night.

  • “Would like to keep it going,” says Jaishankar on Russian oil imports

    By ANI

    MOSCOW: India’s relationship with Russia has worked to its advantage and New Delhi would like to keep that going, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday, as he reaffirmed strong ties with Moscow. Jaishankar made these remarks during a joint press conference along with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.

    Answering a question about India’s increasing oil import amid western outcry, he said, “There is stress on the energy market created by a combination of factors. But as the world’s third-largest consumer… a consumer where the level of income is not very high, it is our obligation to ensure that the Indian consumer has the best possible access to the most advantageous terms on the international market.”

    “…in that respect, the India-Russia relationship has worked to my advantage. If it works to my advantage, I would like to keep that going,” he added.

    The external affairs minister said his presence in Moscow to review bilateral cooperation speaks volumes about India-Russia cooperation. “The fact that I am here today with a delegation to review our cooperation speaks about India-Russia cooperation to see how we can take it forward to create a long-term and sustainable basis, says it all,” he said.

    He further pointed out, how for India, Russia has been “a steady and time-tested partner.”

    “…I said any objective evaluation of our relations for many decades would confirm that it has served both our countries very well., If it has served my country for many many decades. I think you can see the obvious interests and commitment I would have in keeping that relationship strong and steady,” he added.

    The war in Ukraine which started in February has had a significant impact on global food security and has led to a sudden increase in crude prices following western sanctions on Moscow. Earlier, India said its oil imports will be determined by its national interest and its large consumer base.

    New Delhi has not condemned Russia since the start of the conflict and has maintained its independent position. However, on several UN forums, New Delhi has consistently called for a cessation of violence and advocated peace and diplomacy. READ | India will ‘benefit’ from price cap on Russian oil: US Treasury Secretary Yellen

    MOSCOW: India’s relationship with Russia has worked to its advantage and New Delhi would like to keep that going, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday, as he reaffirmed strong ties with Moscow. Jaishankar made these remarks during a joint press conference along with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.

    Answering a question about India’s increasing oil import amid western outcry, he said, “There is stress on the energy market created by a combination of factors. But as the world’s third-largest consumer… a consumer where the level of income is not very high, it is our obligation to ensure that the Indian consumer has the best possible access to the most advantageous terms on the international market.”

    “…in that respect, the India-Russia relationship has worked to my advantage. If it works to my advantage, I would like to keep that going,” he added.

    The external affairs minister said his presence in Moscow to review bilateral cooperation speaks volumes about India-Russia cooperation. “The fact that I am here today with a delegation to review our cooperation speaks about India-Russia cooperation to see how we can take it forward to create a long-term and sustainable basis, says it all,” he said.

    He further pointed out, how for India, Russia has been “a steady and time-tested partner.”

    “…I said any objective evaluation of our relations for many decades would confirm that it has served both our countries very well., If it has served my country for many many decades. I think you can see the obvious interests and commitment I would have in keeping that relationship strong and steady,” he added.

    The war in Ukraine which started in February has had a significant impact on global food security and has led to a sudden increase in crude prices following western sanctions on Moscow. Earlier, India said its oil imports will be determined by its national interest and its large consumer base.

    New Delhi has not condemned Russia since the start of the conflict and has maintained its independent position. However, on several UN forums, New Delhi has consistently called for a cessation of violence and advocated peace and diplomacy. READ | India will ‘benefit’ from price cap on Russian oil: US Treasury Secretary Yellen

  • Jaishankar to visit Moscow amid shadow of Ukraine war

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Despite the conflict in Ukraine dragging and constant pressure from Western nations “to curtail tes with Moscow”, India has affirmed its relationship with Russia. There is strong bilateral trade between the two nations and in a bid to bolster this, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will visit Moscow next week (November 7 to 8). 

    He will meet his counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, and also the trade minister and Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. Jaishankar and Lavrov met four times in 2021. Besides, Prime Minister Modi and other senior ministers like Defence Minister Rajnath Singh have met their Russian counterparts regularly. Russia announced Jaishankar’s visit last week.

    “The external affairs minister will meet his counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia. Discussions are expected to cover the entire range of bilateral issues as well as exchange of views on various regional and international developments,” MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing.

    “The external affairs minister will also meet Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation and Minister of Trade and Industry Denis Manturov, his counterpart for the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC),” Bagchi said.

    NEW DELHI: Despite the conflict in Ukraine dragging and constant pressure from Western nations “to curtail tes with Moscow”, India has affirmed its relationship with Russia. There is strong bilateral trade between the two nations and in a bid to bolster this, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will visit Moscow next week (November 7 to 8). 

    He will meet his counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, and also the trade minister and Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. Jaishankar and Lavrov met four times in 2021. Besides, Prime Minister Modi and other senior ministers like Defence Minister Rajnath Singh have met their Russian counterparts regularly. 
    Russia announced Jaishankar’s visit last week.

    “The external affairs minister will meet his counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia. Discussions are expected to cover the entire range of bilateral issues as well as exchange of views on various regional and international developments,” MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing.

    “The external affairs minister will also meet Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation and Minister of Trade and Industry Denis Manturov, his counterpart for the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC),” Bagchi said.

  • Ukraine conflict has widened scope of political leveraging: S Jaishankar

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: External Affairs minister S Jaishankar feels that the Ukraine conflict has dramatically widened the scope of political leveraging as trade, debt and tourism are being weaponised and used as pressure points.

    The political consequences of globalization have created its own backlash and the world is seeing a revived interest in strategic autonomy, he said on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

    “The unfairness of globalization and stresses of the Covid experience have been aggravated by shortages and costs that derive from the developments in Ukraine. As a result, we are headed for a far more uncertain and insecure existence,” he said delivering a lecture at IIM Calcutta on Wednesday night.

    India has maintained a neutral stand on the Russia-Ukraine war that has escalated since early this year. India has called for peace and the need to end the war through diplomacy.

    Jaishankar said “weaponization” of everything from trade to tourism is leading to more significant changes in international affairs.

    “In recent years we have seen how trade, connectivity, debt, resources and even tourism have become points of political pressure. The Ukraine conflict has widened the scope of political leveraging,” he said.

    The union minister said India now has the ability and responsibility to shape the global landscape as expressed in mechanisms like Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD) and commonly known as the QUAD. The QUAD is a platform for strategic security dialogue between Australia, India, Japan, and the US.

    Jaishankar said, “India has not only to stand up for its own welfare but speak on behalf of the global South as the country has an obvious stake in cooling down overheated global politics.”

    “We now have the ability and responsibility to shape the global landscape. It is expressed in new concepts like Indo-Pacific, mechanisms like Quad or I2U2 or initiatives like the International Solar Alliance. On the economic front, we have been judicious in the manner and extent of engaging the world,” he said.

    I2U2 Group comprises India, Israel, the UAE and the US which aims to discuss shared areas of mutual interest, and strengthen the economic partnership in trade and investment in their respective regions and beyond. Its first virtual summit was held in July this year.

    “India, which has a large segment of a vulnerable population, has to mitigate the impact of key negative trends. We stand up for our own welfare and speak on behalf of the Global South. We also have an obvious stake along with them in cooling down overheated global politics,” he said.

    During an interaction with a student, who sought to know India’s diplomatic stand with regard to Taiwan, the hub of the semiconductor industry, he said the country needs to create an environment for the semiconductor industry to flourish.

    The foreign minister said, “today, there is a big debate going on in the world on semiconductors. In India, we have started an India Semiconductor Mission. There is a very big push from the government to encourage the Indian industry to advance partnerships with foreign technology partners, and chip owners to see how much of it can come to India.”But this requires creating not just a physical environment but also a knowledge environment for human talent,” Jaishankar asserted.

    The India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) is a specialized and independent business division within the Digital India Corporation.

    Last year the Centre approved a Rs 76,000 crore scheme to boost semiconductor and display manufacturing in the country in a bid to position India as a global hub for hi-tech production and attract large chip makers.

    KOLKATA: External Affairs minister S Jaishankar feels that the Ukraine conflict has dramatically widened the scope of political leveraging as trade, debt and tourism are being weaponised and used as pressure points.

    The political consequences of globalization have created its own backlash and the world is seeing a revived interest in strategic autonomy, he said on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

    “The unfairness of globalization and stresses of the Covid experience have been aggravated by shortages and costs that derive from the developments in Ukraine. As a result, we are headed for a far more uncertain and insecure existence,” he said delivering a lecture at IIM Calcutta on Wednesday night.

    India has maintained a neutral stand on the Russia-Ukraine war that has escalated since early this year. India has called for peace and the need to end the war through diplomacy.

    Jaishankar said “weaponization” of everything from trade to tourism is leading to more significant changes in international affairs.

    “In recent years we have seen how trade, connectivity, debt, resources and even tourism have become points of political pressure. The Ukraine conflict has widened the scope of political leveraging,” he said.

    The union minister said India now has the ability and responsibility to shape the global landscape as expressed in mechanisms like Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD) and commonly known as the QUAD. 
    The QUAD is a platform for strategic security dialogue between Australia, India, Japan, and the US.

    Jaishankar said, “India has not only to stand up for its own welfare but speak on behalf of the global South as the country has an obvious stake in cooling down overheated global politics.”

    “We now have the ability and responsibility to shape the global landscape. It is expressed in new concepts like Indo-Pacific, mechanisms like Quad or I2U2 or initiatives like the International Solar Alliance. On the economic front, we have been judicious in the manner and extent of engaging the world,” he said.

    I2U2 Group comprises India, Israel, the UAE and the US which aims to discuss shared areas of mutual interest, and strengthen the economic partnership in trade and investment in their respective regions and beyond. Its first virtual summit was held in July this year.

    “India, which has a large segment of a vulnerable population, has to mitigate the impact of key negative trends. We stand up for our own welfare and speak on behalf of the Global South. We also have an obvious stake along with them in cooling down overheated global politics,” he said.

    During an interaction with a student, who sought to know India’s diplomatic stand with regard to Taiwan, the hub of the semiconductor industry, he said the country needs to create an environment for the semiconductor industry to flourish.

    The foreign minister said, “today, there is a big debate going on in the world on semiconductors. In India, we have started an India Semiconductor Mission. There is a very big push from the government to encourage the Indian industry to advance partnerships with foreign technology partners, and chip owners to see how much of it can come to India.
    “But this requires creating not just a physical environment but also a knowledge environment for human talent,” Jaishankar asserted.

    The India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) is a specialized and independent business division within the Digital India Corporation.

    Last year the Centre approved a Rs 76,000 crore scheme to boost semiconductor and display manufacturing in the country in a bid to position India as a global hub for hi-tech production and attract large chip makers.

  • ‘Still very scary’: Indian students in panic as Ukraine varsities plan to resume offline classes, exams

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Six months after they had to abandon their courses and return home when Russian forces attacked Ukraine, Indian students enrolled in the medical colleges there have a new challenge – resumption of offline classes and exams.

    Some universities in Kiev, the capital of war-hit Ukraine, have informed students about the resumption of offline classes from September and the mandatory examination “Krok” to be conducted in October in offline mode.

    According to norms in Ukraine, in third year of their studies, students from medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy have to appear for KROK-1.

    After completion, if final year, the students have to sit for the state’s licensing exam, KROK-2, for certification to be a doctor or pharmacist.

    Staring at an uncertain future while attending classes online since six months, 20-year-old Ashna Pandit, a student of Taras Shevchenko National Medical University in Kyiv, was shocked to receive a message from her university.

    “We are ready to hold offline classes. Starting from September 1. Your safety is guaranteed,” the message read.

    Noida residents Ashna and her twin brother Ansh, who are fourth-year medical students, are now in a panic about what to do next.

    “The idea of returning to Ukraine when the war is still on is very scary. I spoke to the university authorities, they said that the situation is normal in Kieve but till when? The university still hasn’t clarified if they will be offering online classes for those who cannot make it to the campus.”

    “Even if they agree to online classes for some of us, the medical council in India does not recognise the online courses in medicine. It is a nightmare. Earlier, the university was telling us that they are arranging some mobility programme for us in Poland or in Georgia but that hasn’t materialised,” she told PTI.

    Ashna said even if students do not return to Ukraine for classes they will have to go anyway for Krok as its a qualifying exam to be promoted to the fourth year.

    A student of Bogomolets National Medical University in Kyiv has similar concerns.

    “The university is asking us to return to campus. I am not sure what to do. I am in my final year and have just few months remaining for completion of my course. Part of me wants to take the risk and just be done with it while part of me isn’t sure if it will be safe to be there in coming time,” said the Gurgaon resident, refusing to be identified.

    According to sources, around 20,000 medical students from India were evacuated in March after the war escalated.

    The students have been staging protests demanding admission in Indian medical colleges as a one-time measure.

    The Centre had told Lok Sabha last month that there are no such provisions in the Indian Medical Council Act 1956 and the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 as well as the regulations to accommodate or transfer medical students from any foreign medical institutes to medical colleges in India.

    Gavesh Sharma, a 23-year-old who hails from Churu in Rajasthan, said his family is not willing to let him take the risk.

    “The university is calling us. Some students are already planning their trip too and finding alternate routes to go but my family is not willing to let me take the risk. So I will wait to see how situation unfolds. I have to write Krok exam too but I will take it next year if I cannot appear this year. An year will be lost but at least life will be safe,” he said.

    Sharma, also studies at Taras Shevchenko National University.

    He said the university has already sent an intimation for fee payment for next semester.

    The Supreme Court had on April 29 directed the regulatory body to frame a scheme in two months to enable MBBS students affected by the war and the pandemic to complete their clinical training in medical colleges India.

    Through a circular issued in March, the NMC had allowed returning foreign medical to complete their remaining part of internship in India subject to the condition that they must have cleared FMGE (Screening Test), which is mandatory for Indian students with foreign medical qualification to practice medicine in India.

    This relief was for students who could not complete their internship due to situations beyond their control such as war, Covid etc.

    In March, a public interest litigation was filed in the Supreme Court seeking directions on the issue of admission and continuation of their studies in India.

    The plea also sought directions from the Centre to provide a medical subject equivalency orientation programme for such students.

    The Indian Medical Association (IMA) had also recommended to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that such students be accommodated in Indian medical colleges as a one-time measure.

    In a letter to Modi on March 4, the IMA had said such students should be permitted to go to Indian medical colleges for the remainder of their MBBS courses through an “appropriate disbursed distribution”, but it should not be seen as an increase in the annual intake capacity.

    NEW DELHI: Six months after they had to abandon their courses and return home when Russian forces attacked Ukraine, Indian students enrolled in the medical colleges there have a new challenge – resumption of offline classes and exams.

    Some universities in Kiev, the capital of war-hit Ukraine, have informed students about the resumption of offline classes from September and the mandatory examination “Krok” to be conducted in October in offline mode.

    According to norms in Ukraine, in third year of their studies, students from medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy have to appear for KROK-1.

    After completion, if final year, the students have to sit for the state’s licensing exam, KROK-2, for certification to be a doctor or pharmacist.

    Staring at an uncertain future while attending classes online since six months, 20-year-old Ashna Pandit, a student of Taras Shevchenko National Medical University in Kyiv, was shocked to receive a message from her university.

    “We are ready to hold offline classes. Starting from September 1. Your safety is guaranteed,” the message read.

    Noida residents Ashna and her twin brother Ansh, who are fourth-year medical students, are now in a panic about what to do next.

    “The idea of returning to Ukraine when the war is still on is very scary. I spoke to the university authorities, they said that the situation is normal in Kieve but till when? The university still hasn’t clarified if they will be offering online classes for those who cannot make it to the campus.”

    “Even if they agree to online classes for some of us, the medical council in India does not recognise the online courses in medicine. It is a nightmare. Earlier, the university was telling us that they are arranging some mobility programme for us in Poland or in Georgia but that hasn’t materialised,” she told PTI.

    Ashna said even if students do not return to Ukraine for classes they will have to go anyway for Krok as its a qualifying exam to be promoted to the fourth year.

    A student of Bogomolets National Medical University in Kyiv has similar concerns.

    “The university is asking us to return to campus. I am not sure what to do. I am in my final year and have just few months remaining for completion of my course. Part of me wants to take the risk and just be done with it while part of me isn’t sure if it will be safe to be there in coming time,” said the Gurgaon resident, refusing to be identified.

    According to sources, around 20,000 medical students from India were evacuated in March after the war escalated.

    The students have been staging protests demanding admission in Indian medical colleges as a one-time measure.

    The Centre had told Lok Sabha last month that there are no such provisions in the Indian Medical Council Act 1956 and the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 as well as the regulations to accommodate or transfer medical students from any foreign medical institutes to medical colleges in India.

    Gavesh Sharma, a 23-year-old who hails from Churu in Rajasthan, said his family is not willing to let him take the risk.

    “The university is calling us. Some students are already planning their trip too and finding alternate routes to go but my family is not willing to let me take the risk. So I will wait to see how situation unfolds. I have to write Krok exam too but I will take it next year if I cannot appear this year. An year will be lost but at least life will be safe,” he said.

    Sharma, also studies at Taras Shevchenko National University.

    He said the university has already sent an intimation for fee payment for next semester.

    The Supreme Court had on April 29 directed the regulatory body to frame a scheme in two months to enable MBBS students affected by the war and the pandemic to complete their clinical training in medical colleges India.

    Through a circular issued in March, the NMC had allowed returning foreign medical to complete their remaining part of internship in India subject to the condition that they must have cleared FMGE (Screening Test), which is mandatory for Indian students with foreign medical qualification to practice medicine in India.

    This relief was for students who could not complete their internship due to situations beyond their control such as war, Covid etc.

    In March, a public interest litigation was filed in the Supreme Court seeking directions on the issue of admission and continuation of their studies in India.

    The plea also sought directions from the Centre to provide a medical subject equivalency orientation programme for such students.

    The Indian Medical Association (IMA) had also recommended to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that such students be accommodated in Indian medical colleges as a one-time measure.

    In a letter to Modi on March 4, the IMA had said such students should be permitted to go to Indian medical colleges for the remainder of their MBBS courses through an “appropriate disbursed distribution”, but it should not be seen as an increase in the annual intake capacity.

  • Russia-Ukraine crisis hits Gujarat diamond industry, here’s why

    By ANI

    SURAT: India’s diamond polishing hub Surat has lost its glamour in the wake of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine War which has affected the supply chain of rough diamonds.

    Dinesh Navadia, Regional Chairman, Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council said, “Surat’s diamond industry witnesses an impact amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Every month raw material of around 1.75 lakh carat was imported into Surat via Russia. No raw material availability now. Over 30 to 35 per cent of rough diamonds imported from Alrosa directly come to the Indian market at Surat and Mumbai for cutting and polishing.”

    Major diamond factories in Surat have reduced the working week from three to four days. Several small factories in Surat have been closed for the time being.

    “Russian rough diamonds are generally smaller, making up 40 per cent of India’s diamond trade by volume and about 30 per cent in value. The war with Ukraine has now affected this 18 billion dollar trade. The stock of Russian raw materials sent to India before the US sanctions are also about to run out,” added Navadia.

    The Diamond Workers Union Gujarat’s Surat unit on May 4 sent a memorandum addressed to Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel seeking financial aid to be given to the diamond workers.

    The Russian invasion of Ukraine started on February 24, 2022, and the US imposed sanctions on several items exported from Russia around mid-April.

  • ‘Kindly don’t patronise us, we know what to do’: India on abstention in UNGA on Ukraine

    By PTI

    UNITED NATIONS: India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti has told the Ambassador of the Netherlands to the UK that “Kindly don’t patronise us,” New Delhi “knows what to do” when the Dutch envoy said India should not have abstained in the UN General Assembly on Ukraine.

    On February 24, Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine, three days after Moscow recognised Ukraine’s breakaway regions – Donetsk and Luhansk – as independent entities.

    Since January this year, India has abstained on procedural votes and draft resolutions in the UN Security Council, the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council that deplored Russian aggression against Ukraine.

    “Kindly don’t patronise us, Ambassador. We know what to do,” Tirumurti said in response to a tweet by Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Karel van Oosterom.

    In the tweet, the Dutch envoy said to Tirumurti “You should not have abstained in the GA. Respect the UN Charter.”

    Tirumurti delivered a statement at the UN Security Council meeting Wednesday on Ukraine.

    He posted the full text of his statement on Twitter saying “At the UN Security Council meeting on #Ukraine this afternoon, I made the following statement” to which van Oosterom made the comment about India abstaining in the General Assembly.

    In April, India abstained in the UN General Assembly on a vote moved by the US to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council over allegations that Russian soldiers killed civilians while retreating from towns near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.

    In March, India abstained from the UN General Assembly on a resolution by Ukraine and its allies on the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, saying the focus should be on cessation of hostilities and on urgent humanitarian assistance and the draft did not fully reflect New Delhi’s expected to focus on these challenges.

    On March 2, the General Assembly had voted to reaffirm its commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders and deplored in the strongest terms Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

    India, along with 34 other nations had abstained from the resolution, which was adopted with 141 votes in favour and five Member States voting against.

  • Legitimate energy transactions can’t be politicised: India on oil import from Russia

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday asserted that its energy purchases from Russia remain ‘minuscule’ in comparison to its total consumption and that legitimate energy transactions cannot be politicised as energy export from Russia are yet to be sanctioned.

    The world’s third-biggest oil-consuming and importing nation has in recent weeks snapped few cargoes available from Russia at deep discounts as part of its plans to diversify its import basket.

    These purchases have been commented upon.

    “India’s legitimate energy transactions cannot be politicized,” the oil ministry said in a statement reacting to such reports.

    “Energy flows are yet to be sanctioned.”

    It went on to state that the reports “make conjectures and try to sensationalize routine purchase of crude oil by Indian oil companies from Russia based” and this is a part of “a pre-meditated attempt to further destabilize an already fragile global oil market.”

    “India’s energy needs are enormous with daily consumption of around 5 million barrels and a refining capacity of 250 million tonnes per annum,” it said.

    “For energy security and to fulfil its objective of providing energy justice to each of its citizens, Indian energy companies buy from all major oil producers in the world.”

    It, however, did not quantify the purchases made from Russia.

    “Our top 10 import destinations are mostly from West Asia. In the recent past, USA has become a major crude oil source for India, supplying almost USD 13 billion worth of energy imports, with almost 7.3 per cent of market share of crude oil imports,” the statement said.

    India, it said, has been constrained to pay ever-increasing prices charged by certain oil suppliers, which is leading India to diversify its sources of procurement.

    “Meanwhile, energy demand in India remains inelastic. At the current price levels, many countries in the immediate neighbourhood are facing severe fuel shortages and chaos due to high fuel inflation,” it said adding the Government has ensured access to affordable energy to Indian citizens despite challenging times.

    The ministry said Indian energy companies have been sourcing energy supplies from Russia, on a sustained basis, over the past several years.

    “Yearly figures may have varied due to a variety of reasons, including operational necessities.”

    “If suddenly, now, as a huge importer of crude oil, India pulls back on its diversified sources, concentrating on the remaining, in an already constrained market, it will lead to further volatility and instability, jacking up international prices,” the statement said justifying purchases from Russia.

    “Despite attempts to portray it otherwise, energy purchases from Russia remain minuscule in comparison to India’s total consumption,” it said calling for attention to be on other countries that are major consumers of energy supplied from Russia.

    Speculation on Indian purchases from Russia will “end up serving vested interests including speculators, leading to a negative impact on the global economic recovery,” it added.

  • Ukraine official: Zelenskyy meets top-level US delegation

    By PTI

    KYIV: The U.S. secretaries of state and defense met Sunday night with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the highest-level visit to the country’s capital by an American delegation since the start of Russia’s invasion.

    The meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, which was confirmed by a senior Ukrainian official, came as Ukraine pressed the West for more powerful weapons against Russia’s campaign in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, where Moscow’s forces sought to dislodge the last Ukrainian troops in the battered port of Mariupol.

    “Yes, they’re meeting with the president. Let’s hope something will be decided on further help,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych told Russian lawyer and activist Mark Feygin on his YouTube show “Feygin Live.” The United States has not yet commented.

    Before the session with Blinken and Austin, Zelenskyy said he was looking for the Americans to produce results, both in arms and security guarantees.

    “You can’t come to us empty-handed today, and we are expecting not just presents or some kind of cakes, we are expecting specific things and specific weapons,” he said.

    Zelenskyy’s last face-to-face meeting with a top U.S. official was Feb. 19 in Munich with Vice President Kamala Harris, five days before Russia’s invasion.

    While the West has funneled military equipment to Ukraine, Zelenskyy has stressed repeatedly that his country needs more heavy weapons, including long-range air defense systems and warplanes.

    Zelenskyy’s meeting with U.S. officials took place as Ukrainians and Russians observed Orthodox Easter.

    Speaking from Kyiv’s ancient St. Sophia Cathedral, Zelenskyy, who is Jewish, highlighted its significance to a nation wracked by nearly two months of war.

    “The great holiday today gives us great hope and unwavering faith that light will overcome darkness, good will overcome evil, life will overcome death, and therefore Ukraine will surely win!” he said.

    Still, the war cast a shadow over celebrations. In the northern village of Ivanivka, where Russian tanks still littered the roads, Olena Koptyl said “the Easter holiday doesn’t bring any joy. I’m crying a lot. We cannot forget how we lived.” The Russian military reported hitting 423 Ukrainian targets overnight, including fortified positions and troop concentrations, while its warplanes destroyed 26 Ukrainian military sites, including an explosives factory and several artillery depots.

    Since failing to capture Kyiv, the Russians have aimed to gain full control over the eastern industrial heartland, where Moscow-backed separatists controlled some territory before the war.

    Russian forces launched fresh airstrikes on a Mariupol steel plant where an estimated 1,000 civilians are sheltering along with about 2,000 Ukrainian fighters.

    The Azovstal steel mill where the defenders are holed up is the last corner of resistance in the city, otherwise occupied by the Russians.

    Zelenskyy said he stressed the need to evacuate civilians from Mariupol, including from the steel plant, in a Sunday call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is scheduled to speak later with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

    Arestovych, the Zelenskyy adviser, said Ukraine has proposed holding talks with Russia next to the sprawling steel mill.

    Arestovych said on the Telegram messaging app that Russia has not responded to the proposal that would include establishing humanitarian corridors and the exchange of Russian war prisoners for the fighters still in the plant.

    U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is scheduled to travel to Turkey on Monday and then Moscow and Kyiv.

    Zelenskyy said it was a mistake for Guterres to visit Russia before Ukraine. “Why? To hand over signals from Russia? What should we look for?” Zelenskyy said Saturday.

    “There are no corpses scattered on the Kutuzovsky Prospect,” he said, referring to one of Moscow’s main avenues.

    Mariupol has endured fierce fighting since the start of the war because of its location on the Sea of Azov.

    Its capture would deprive Ukraine of a vital port, free up Russian troops to fight elsewhere, and allow Moscow to establish a land corridor to the Crimean Peninsula, which it seized from Ukraine in 2014.

    More than 100,000 people, down from a prewar population of about 430,000, are believed to remain in Mariupol with scant food, water or heat.

    Ukrainian authorities estimate over 20,000 civilians have been killed. Recent satellite images showed what appeared to be mass graves to the west and east of Mariupol.

    Children in an underground bunker were seen receiving Easter presents in a video released Sunday by the far-right Azov Battalion, which is among the Ukrainian forces at the steel plant in Mariupol.

    The group’s deputy commander, Sviatoslav Palamar, said the video was shot at the plant.

    One toddler is seen wearing homemade diapers made of cellophane and people are seen hanging laundry on makeshift hangers.

    “Please help us,” one woman in the video said through tears, appealing to world leaders. “We want to live in our city, in our country. We are tired of these bombings, constant air strikes on our land. How much longer will this continue?” Mykhailo Podolyak, another presidential adviser, tweeted that the Russian military was attacking the plant with heavy bombs and artillery while accumulating forces and equipment for a direct assault.

    Zelenskyy on Saturday accused Russians of committing war crimes by killing civilians and of setting up “filtration camps” near Mariupol for people trying to leave the city.

    He said the Ukrainians, many of them children, are then sent to areas under Russian occupation or to Russia itself, often as far as Siberia or the Far East. The claims could not be independently verified.

    But they were repeated by Ukrainian lawmaker Yevheniya Kravchuk on ABC’s “This Week.” “They have pulled these people from Mariupol — they are put to filtration camps…it’s sort of something that can’t be happening in the 21st century,” Kravchuk said.

    Zelenskyy also claimed that intercepted communications recorded Russian troops discussing “how they conceal the traces of their crimes” in Mariupol.

    And he highlighted the death of a 3-month old girl in a Russian missile strike Saturday on the Black Sea port of Odesa.

    The baby was among eight people killed when Russia fired cruise missiles at Odesa, Ukrainian officials said.

    Ukrainian news agency UNIAN, citing social media, reported that the infant’s mother, Valeria Glodan, and grandmother also died when a missile hit a residential area. Zelenskyy promised to find and punish those responsible.

    “The war started when this baby was 1 month old,” Zelenskyy said. “Can you imagine what is happening? They are filthy scum; there are no other words for it.” For the Donbas offensive, Russia has reassembled troops who fought around Kyiv and in northern Ukraine.

    The British Ministry of Defense said Ukrainian forces had repelled numerous assaults in the past week and “inflicted significant cost on Russian forces.” The spiritual leaders of the world’s Orthodox Christians and Roman Catholics appealed for relief for Ukraine’s suffering population.

    From Istanbul, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I said a “human tragedy” was unfolding.

    Bartholomew, considered the first among his Eastern Orthodox patriarch equals, cited in particular the thousands of people surrounded in Mariupol, civilians, among them the wounded, the elderly, women and many children.

    “Pope Francis, speaking from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square, renewed his call for an Easter truce, calling it ‘a minimal and tangible sign of a desire for peace.”

  • Russia has yet to slow a Western arms express into war-battered Ukraine

    By PTI

    WASHINGTON: Western weaponry pouring into Ukraine helped blunt Russia’s initial offensive and seems certain to play a central role in the approaching, potentially decisive, battle for Ukraine’s contested Donbas region.

    Yet the Russian military is making little headway halting what has become a historic arms express.

    The U.S. numbers alone are mounting: more than 12,000 weapons designed to defeat armored vehicles, some 1,400 shoulder-fired Stinger missiles to shoot down aircraft and more than 50 million rounds of ammunition, among many other things.

    Dozens of other nations are adding to the totals.

    President Joe Biden on Wednesday approved another $800 million worth of military assistance, including additional helicopters and the first provision of American artillery.

    These armaments have helped the Ukrainian military defy predictions that it would be quickly overrun by Russia.

    They explain in part why Putin’s army gave up, at least for now, its attempt to capture Kyiv, the capital, and has narrowed its focus to battling for eastern and southern Ukraine.

    U.S. officials and analysts offer numerous explanations for why the Russians have had so little success interdicting Western arms.

    Among the likely reasons: Russia’s failure to win full control of Ukraine’s skies has limited its use of air power.

    Also, the Russians have struggled to deliver weapons and supplies to their own troops in Ukraine.

    Some say Moscow’s problem begins at home.

    “The short answer to the question is that they are an epically incompetent army badly led from the very top,” said James Stavridis, a retired U.S. Navy admiral who was the top NATO commander in Europe from 2009 to 2013.

    The Russians also face practical obstacles.

    Robert G. Bell, a longtime NATO official and now a professor at the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech University, said the shipments lend themselves to being hidden or disguised in ways that can make them elusive to the Russians, “short of having a network of espionage on the scene” to pinpoint the convoys’ movements.”

    “It’s not as easy to stop this assistance flow as it might seem,” said Stephen Biddle, a professor of international and public affairs at Columbia University.

    “Things like ammunition and shoulder-fired missiles can be transported in trucks that look just like any other commercial truck.”

    And the trucks carrying the munitions the Russians want to interdict are just a small part of a much larger flow of goods and commerce moving around in Poland and Ukraine and across the border.

    “So the Russians have to find the needle in this very big haystack to destroy the weapons and ammo they’re after and not waste scarce munitions on trucks full of printer paper or baby diapers or who knows what.”

    Even with this Western assistance it’s uncertain whether Ukraine will ultimately prevail against a bigger Russian force.

    The Biden administration has drawn the line at committing U.S. troops to the fight.

    It has opted instead to orchestrate international condemnation and economic sanctions, provide intelligence information, bolster NATO’s eastern flank to deter a wider war with Russia and donate weapons.

    In mid-March, a Russian deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said arms shipments would be targeted.

    But thus far the Russians appear not to have put a high priority on arms interdiction, perhaps because their air force is leery of flying into Ukraine’s air defenses to search out and attack supply convoys on the move.

    On Monday, the Russians said they destroyed four S-300 surface-to-air missile launchers that had been given to Ukraine by an unspecified European country.

    Slovakia, a NATO member that shares a border with Ukraine, donated just such a system last week but denied it had been destroyed.

    On Tuesday, the Russian Ministry of Defense said long-range missiles were used to hit two Ukrainian ammo depots.

    As the fighting intensifies in the Donbas and perhaps along the coastal corridor to the Russian-annexed Crimean Peninsula, Putin may feel compelled to strike harder at the arms pipeline, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called vital to his nation’s survival.

    In the meantime, a staggering volume and range of war materiel is arriving almost daily.

    “The scope and speed of our support to meeting Ukraine’s defense needs are unprecedented in modern times,” said John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary.

    He said the approximately $2.6 billion in weapons and other material that has been offered to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden administration is equivalent to more than half of Ukraine’s normal defense budget.

    The Pentagon said Wednesday that an unspecified number of additional Javelins are to be delivered by Thursday, and the U.S. will complete the delivery of 100 armed Switchblade “kamikaze” drones this week.

    The specific routes used to move the U.S. and other Western materials into Ukraine are secret for security reasons, but the basic process is not.

    Just this week, two U.S. military cargo planes arrived in Eastern Europe with items ranging from machine guns and small arms ammunition to body armor and grenades, the Pentagon said.

    A similar load is due later this week to complete the delivery of $800 million in assistance approved by Biden just one month ago.

    Kirby said the material sometimes reaches troops in the field within 48 hours of entering Ukraine.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he’s “sincerely thankful” to the U.S. for the new round of $800 million in military assistance.

    In his daily late-night address to the nation, Zelenskyy also said he was thankful for Wednesday’s visit by the presidents of Poland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.

    He said those leaders “have helped us from the first day, those who did not hesitate to give us weapons, those who did not doubt whether to impose sanctions.”

    In his telephone conversation with U.S. President Joe Biden, Zelenskyy said they discussed the new weapons shipment, even tougher sanctions against Russia and efforts to bring to justice those Russian soldiers who committed war crimes in Ukraine.

    Zelenskyy also said work was continuing to clear tens of thousands of unexploded shells, mines and trip wires that were left behind in northern Ukraine by the retreating Russians.

    He urged those returning to their homes in those towns to be wary of any unfamiliar object and report it to the police.