May not be part of your culture: EAM rebukes criticism of PM hugging Putin

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar rebuked the criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi hugging Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Russia and said it is part of Indian culture to embrace people upon meeting themNotably Prime Minister Modi visited Russia last month He was welcomed by President Vladimir Putin and the two leaders warmly embraced each otherThis drew criticism from some sections of Western media as well as from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who termed it a devastating blow to peace effortsIn our part of the world when people meet people they are given to embracing each other It may not be part of your culture but I assure it is part of ours Jaishankar said during a press conferenceIn fact today I saw Prime Minister also embraced President Zelenskyy and I have seen him do it with a number of other leaders at a number of other places So I think we have a slightly cultural gap in terms of what these courtesies mean he addedPrime Minister Modi concluded his visit to Ukraine on Friday the first by an Indian PM to the European nation since India established diplomatic ties with Ukraine in 1992Providing details of the bilateral meeting between PM Modi and Zelenskyy the Foreign Minister stated that discussions focused on strengthening bilateral relations The talks covered a range of sectors including trade economic issues defence pharmaceuticals agriculture and educationHe further asserted that PM Modis visit is a landmark as it is the first time an Indian Prime Minister has visited the country since the establishment of diplomatic tiesAs you know Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Kyiv this morning and weve just concluded his official engagements This is a landmark visit Its the first time that an Indian PM has visited Ukraine since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992India and Ukraine also signed four agreements during PM Modis visit the Agreement on Cooperation in the field of Agriculture and Food Industry the MoU on Cooperation in the field of Medical Products Regulation the MoU on Indian Humanitarian Grant Assistance for Implementation of High Impact Community Development Projects and the Programme for Cultural Cooperation for 20242028Earlier in the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Zelenskyy during their bilateral meeting that dialogue is the only solution to the conflict in UkraineIndia was never neutral we have always been on the side of peace PM Modi told Zelenskyy in their bilateral meetingHe further said that India was ready to play an active role in the path to peace and progressThis 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