New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three-day tour of Europe would seriously deliberate on the war in Ukraine, his party said Monday, even as the Opposition urged him to explain the government’s stand to the West.
BJP foreign affairs in-charge Dr Vijay Chauthaiwale told news agency ANI that “bilateral collaboration with the three European countries and Ukraine would be an important part of deliberations during this visit”.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, meanwhile, said Monday that governments in Europe “were agitated about the Russian invasion of Ukraine”.
He said: “Given that there is controversy in the West on India’s position on the Ukraine crisis, it becomes an opportunity for the Prime Minister to explain his government’s stand on it and also understand their point of view.”
Modi arrived in Germany on Monday and would meet the newly-appointed Chancellor Olaf Scholz. He will hold talks with leaders of Nordic countries in Denmark on Tuesday and will stop in Paris on Wednesday to meet President Emmanuel Macron, who has just got a second term.
The German Chancellor is “confident” there would be a “broad agreement” between India and Germany on Russian actions that violate “core principles of the UN Charter”, The Indian Express said.
The report said Scholz was also sure the two countries would see eye to eye on the principle that “massacres against the civilian population are war crimes” and “those responsible must be held accountable”.
Dr Chauthaiwale said Narendra Modi’s visit would also touch upon diverse sectors such as defence, healthcare, science and technology, trade and investment, sustainable development as well as education.
Modi and Scholz will chair the sixth India-Germany Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC) – a biennial affair that India has only with Germany.
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