India calls for direct negotiations between Russia, Ukraine to cease hostilities

India called for direct contacts and negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to cease the hostilities between the two countries and said New Delhi has been and will continue to remain in touch with both Moscow and KyivIndias Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador R Ravindra said India continues to underline the need to respect the UN Charter international law and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of StatesIndia has been consistent in calling for an immediate end to all hostilities in Ukraine Our Prime Minister has repeatedly called for an urgent ceasefire and that there is no other path left but of dialogue and diplomacy he said Speaking at the UN Security Council briefing by Foreign Minister of Poland Zbigniew Rau ChairpersoninOffice of Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe OSCE Ravindra said India calls for direct contacts and negotiations with a view to cease hostilitiesIndia has been in touch with both the Russian Federation and Ukraine and will continue to remain engaged We continue to underline the need to respect the UN Charter international law and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states he said Voicing concern over the mounting human toll and the humanitarian situation in Ukraine he said India undertook intensive and immediate steps to evacuate its nationals from conflict zones in UkraineTill date about 22500 Indians have returned home safely We are grateful to all our partners for their support in our evacuation efforts he said as he thanked the Polish foreign minister for the generosity and help extended to Indian citizens in their safe return from conflict zones in Ukraine Prime Minister Narendra Modi has held several phone conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and called for an immediate cessation of violence as well as concerted efforts from all sides to return to the path of diplomatic negotiations and dialogue Ravindra said OSCE has been playing an important role in facilitating the implementation of the package of measures across both sides of the contact line in eastern UkraineHowever recent developments in Ukraine and consequent deterioration of security situation have halted the functioning of the Special Monitoring Mission he said Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24 announced a military operation in Ukraine and warned other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to unprecedented consequences More than two weeks of war has created a humanitarian crisis in Ukraine that has accelerated in recent daysThe United Nations estimates that over 2 million Ukrainians have fled their country and the number is expected to grow Ravindra said India also supports OSCE Minsk Groups continued efforts for a peaceful resolution of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan India believes that any lasting resolution of the conflict can only be achieved peacefully through diplomatic negotiations and we call on Parties to implement the agreement reached he said noting with concern that steps that have been committed have yet to materialise Noting that the challenges confronting the OSCE community come from different sources he said they include not only challenges to sovereignty but threats to peace from ethnic tensions and violent separatism within StatesThe OSCE as the worlds largest security organisation is also addressing some of the toughest transnational threats such as the proliferation of weapons terrorism cyber security migration environmental damage and drug trafficking he said While noting the ongoing global counterterrorism efforts and contributions of OSCE we would like to take this opportunity to reiterate the importance of this issue OSCE was among the first regional organisations to strongly condemn the terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001OSCE needs to take into account such crossborder terrorist acts and other new and emerging threatsiquest he said India said in this context the eightpoint action plan on counterterrorism proposed by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in January last year while addressing the Security Council also merits serious consideration of the OSCE The action plan included a call to summon the political will and not justify terrorism not glorify terrorists no double standards and not to place blocks and holds on listing requests without any reasonThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever