India ready to work for peace in Ukraine, West Asia: PM

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and West Asia are a matter of concern and India is ready to make every possible contribution to the restoration of peace. His remarks came after talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who called upon India to contribute to finding a political solution to the conflict in Ukraine that has been raging for a long time. "The ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and West Asia are a matter of concern for both nations. India has always been of the view that war cannot be a solution to problems. India is ready to make every possible contribution for the restoration of peace," Modi said after the 7th Inter-Governmental Consultations with the visiting German Chancellor.

Modi said he and Olaf agreed that the global forums established in the 20th century were inadequate to address the challenges of the 21st century. "There is a need for reforms in multilateral institutions, including the UN Security Council," the prime minister said. Earlier, initiating the IGC, the strategic partnership between India and Germany has emerged as a strong anchor at a time when the world is faced with tensions, conflicts and uncertainty. Modi said India-Germany ties were a transformational partnership of two capable and strong democracies and not a transactional relationship. "The world is passing through times of tensions, conflicts and uncertainty. In the Indo-Pacific region, there are serious concerns about the rule of law and freedom of navigation. In times like this, the strategic partnership between India and Germany has emerged as a strong anchor," he said.

The prime minister recalled that this was Scholz's third visit to India and marked the "triple celebration" of the friendship between India and Germany. "In the last IGC in Berlin in 2022, we took important decisions for our bilateral cooperation. In two years, there has been encouraging progress in various sectors of our strategic relations. There has been increasing cooperation in areas such as defence, technology, energy, green and sustainable development that have become symbols of mutual trust," he said.

Modi also welcomed the 'Focus on India' strategy announced by Germany.

"I am delighted that to expand and elevate our partnership, we are taking several new and important initiatives and moving from the 'Whole of Government' to the Whole of Nation approach," he said. The IGC framework was launched in 2011 and allows for a comprehensive review of cooperation and identification of new areas of engagement between the two countries across various sectors.