Reports of killings of innocent civilians in Bucha city were very worrying: Modi to Biden
US President Joe Biden on Monday said the US and India will continue consultations to cope with the “destabilising” effects of the Russian war in Ukraine during a virtual meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi who highlighted the need for direct talks between President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart to resolve the crisis.
In his televised opening remarks,Modi said the recent reports of killings of innocent civilians in Bucha city were very worrying and that India immediately condemned it and demanded a fair investigation.
“We hope that the ongoing dialogue between Russia and Ukraine will lead to peace,” Modi said.
The prime minister referred to his phone conversations with the Ukrainian and Russian presidents and said he suggested to Russian President Vladimir Putin to hold direct talks with his Ukrainian counterpart.
In his remarks Biden talked about the strong India-US defence partnership, stressing that both the countries are going to “continue our close consultation on how to manage the destabilizing effects of this Russian war.” “Our talks today are taking place at a time when the situation in Ukraine remains very worrying. Till a few weeks ago, more than 20,000 Indians were stranded in Ukraine. And most of these were young students,” Modi said.
The prime minister also noted that an Indian student lost his life in Ukraine.
“After a lot of hard work, we were able to get them out of there safely, although one student lost his life. Throughout this development, I spoke on the phone several times with the Presidents of both Ukraine and Russia,” he said.
“Not only did I appeal for peace, but I also suggested President Putin to have direct talks with the President of Ukraine. The subject of Ukraine has been discussed in great detail in our Parliament as well,” Modi added.
The Modi-Biden meeting took place ahead of the fourth India-US ‘2+2’ dialogue in Washington which will be led by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on the Indian side and their US counterparts, Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony J Blinken.