India wants Russia, Ukraine to hold talks to resolve crisis: Rajnath Singh

New Delhi, August 24

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Expressing ‘concern’ at the situation in Ukraine, India has reiterated it supports for talks between Russia and Ukraine to resolve this crisis.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, while speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ Meeting at Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on Wednesday, said India favoured that Russia and Ukraine sit down and talk.

“India is concerned about the humanitarian crisis in and around Ukraine. We have extended our support for the efforts of the UN Secretary General, UN agencies and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to provide humanitarian assistance,” he added.

Rajnath Singh went on to extend support to a peaceful, secure and stable Afghanistan, while emphasising to respect its sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, national unity and non-interference in internal affairs.

The Afghan territory must not be used to intimidate or attack any country by providing safe havens and training to terrorists and supporting their activities through financial assistance.

He called upon the SCO to control cross-border terrorism, committed by anyone and for whatever purpose, is a crime against humanity.

“Terrorism is one of the most serious challenges to global peace and security. India reiterates its resolve to fight all forms of terrorism,” said Rajnath Singh while adding that India seeks to develop joint institutional capabilities with the SCO member states.

In this context, he proposed to host a workshop in India in 2023 on the theme ‘Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief – Risk mitigation and Disaster Resilient Infrastructure’ for the Defence Ministries of SCO Member States. He also suggested an annual seminar on ‘Topic of Interest’ among the defence think tanks of SCO countries. “We propose to organise the first such defence think tank seminar in India in 2023,” he added.

The Minister invited all SCO Member States to visit India next year when New Delhi takes over the presidency of the Organisation from Uzbekistan.

After his bilateral meetings with his Uzbek, Kazakh and Belarusian counterparts yesterday, Rajnath Singh is slated to meet Defence Minister of Kyrgyzstan later today. During exchange of pleasantries with Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu this morning, Rajnath Singh conveyed his deep appreciation and thanks for arresting in Moscow a terrorist who was planning attacks in India.