If New Delhi has chosen a side, it is the side of peace and for an immediate end to violence, S Jaishankar, the country's External Affairs Minister on Wednesday said. He was replying to the discussion in Lok Sabha on the situation in Ukraine.
Asserting that the country is strongly against the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Jaishankar said India was the first country to evacuate its citizens and "served as an inspiration" to others.
EAM Jaishankar said that India encourages talks between Ukraine and Russia, including at the level of their presidents, and asserted that if New Delhi can be of any assistance in this matter, it would be "glad to contribute".
India's approach will be to promote dialogue to end the conflict, he said.
Talking about the civilian killings in the Ukrainian city of Bucha, Jaishankar said India is "deeply disturbed" by the reports.
The foreign minister also said that the government is working to stabilise economic transactions with Russia.
Jaishankar told lawmakers in the Parliament that Russia continues to be a critical economic partner and efforts were underway to "stabilise economic transactions between India and Russia."
Russia is India's main supplier of defence hardware but overall annual trade is small, averaging about $9 billion in the past few years, mainly fertiliser and some oil.
Official sources have earlier stated that Indian government has been looking to establish a rupee-rouble trade system.
Last month, US President Joe Biden said only India among the Quad group of countries was "somewhat shaky" in acting against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
While the other Quad countries - the United States, Japan and Australia - have sanctioned Russian entities or people, India has not imposed sanctions on its biggest supplier of military hardware.
