Russia, Ukraine have to negotiate, India willing to advise: Jaishankar

Responding to questions at the Annual Ambassadors’ Conference of the German Foreign Office in Berlin, Jaishankar said, “We don’t think this conflict is going to be resolved on the battlefield. At some stage, there’s going to be some negotiation. When there is a negotiation, the main parties — Russia and Ukraine — have to be at that negotiation.”

Recalling PM Modi’s visits to Russia and Ukraine, he said Modi has said in both countries that this was not an era of war. “We don’t think you’re going to get a solution out of the battlefield. We think you’ve got to negotiate… If you want advice, we are always willing to give it…,” he said, adding countries have differences, but conflicts are not a way to resolve them.

On China, he said: “We are not closed to business from China… It’s the second-largest economy in the world. It’s a premium manufacturer. So there’s nobody who can say, I won’t do business with China. I think the issue is, which sectors do you do business and on what terms? So, it’s far more complicated than a black and white binary answer.”

Meanwhile, Jaishankar called for greater cooperation with Germany in innovation, AI, fintech and green technologies.