'Narendra Modi was right...' French President cites Indian PM's advice to Putin over war in Ukraine
Prime Minister Modi, while meeting the Russian President on the sidelines of the 22nd Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in Uzbekistan's Samarkand last week, told Putin that 'today's era is not of war'. Macron told world leaders that this was not the time to oppose the West against the East or for revenge against the West.
FollowPrime Minister Narendra Modi was right when he told Russian President Vladimir Putin that this is not the time for war, said French President Emmanuel Macron while addressing world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly session.
Prime Minister Modi, while meeting the Russian President on the sidelines of the 22nd Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in Uzbekistan's Samarkand last week, told Putin that 'today's era is not of war'. Prime Minister Modi and President Putin have spoken over the phone several times over the issue and underlined the importance of democracy, diplomacy and dialogue.
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In response, Putin had told Modi that he was aware of the latter's position on Ukraine's conflict and the concerns he constantly expresses. Putin assured me that his country would do its best to stop the conflict as soon as possible. However, Putin claimed that the Ukrainian leadership had abandoned the negotiation process and declared that it wanted to achieve its goals on the battlefield.
In his address at the General Debate of the 77th Session of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Macron said: 'Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was right when he said this is not the time for war. It is not for opposing the West against the East or for revenge against the West. It is the collective time for our equal sovereign States to cope together with challenges we face.'
Stating that it was time to build a coalition of specific action to reconcile legitimate interests and common goods rather than bloc thinking, Macron stressed upon the urgent need to develop a new contract between the north and the south that is respectful for food, biodiversity and education.
Macron also touched upon the UN Security Council reforms and expressed hope that the global community will commit to making it more representative, welcome new permanent members and restrict the use of the veto in cases of mass crimes.
The French president underlined that there are countries that have chosen a form of neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine war. He termed as a 'historic error' the non-aligned stand taken by certain countries on the issue.
'Those who are keeping silent today are in a way complicit with a cause of new imperialism that is trampling over the current order, and there's no peace possible here. Russia is today seeking to uphold a double standard, but the war in Ukraine must not be a conflict that leaves anyone indifferent,' Macron said.
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