India on Saturday welcomed next week's summit talks between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on the Ukraine war, and reaffirmed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's consistent position that it is not an "era of war".
India's reaction came hours after Trump announced that he would hold talks with Putin in Alaska next Friday. Moscow also confirmed the meeting that is aimed at ending the war.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), endorsing the move, said India stands ready to support the efforts.
"India welcomes the understanding reached between the United States and the Russian Federation for a meeting in Alaska on August 15," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
"This meeting holds the promise of bringing to an end the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and opening up the prospects for peace. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said on several occasions, 'This is not an era of war'," he said.
"India, therefore, endorses the upcoming Summit meeting and stands ready to support these efforts," Jaiswal said in a statement.
India has been consistently calling for ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict through dialogue and diplomacy.
The highly anticipated meeting between myself, as President of the US, and President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, will take place next Friday in the Great State of Alaska, Trump posted on Truth Social on Friday.
In a telephonic conversation with Modi on Friday, Putin briefed him on the latest developments concerning Ukraine.
"While thanking President Putin for his detailed assessment, the prime minister reiterated India's consistent position for peaceful resolution of the conflict," the MEA had said after the phone conversation.
In July last year, Modi travelled to Moscow and told Putin that a solution to the Ukraine conflict is not possible on the battlefield and peace efforts do not succeed in the midst of bombs and bullets.
The next month, Modi visited the Ukranian capital city of Kyiv and conveyed to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that both Ukraine and Russia should sit together without wasting time to end the war.
The prime minister had said India was on the side of peace since the beginning of the conflict.
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