NEW DELHI: External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Sunday highlighted India’s longstanding ties with Russia, saying the country had stood by India when New Delhi’s security and territorial integrity faced threats and much of the world preferred backing a military regime.Speaking at the Munich Leaders Meeting, Jaishankar said India and Russia had maintained strong relations since the 1950s and that the legacy of those ties continued to shape the relationship.“India and Russia have historically very good relations, particularly since the 1950s. That history is not forgotten,” Jaishankar said.He added that Russia which was Soviet Union before “stood by us in many ways when our security, when our territorial integrity was under threat”.“At a time when much of the world preferred backing a military regime (Pakistan) next to us, Russia was a country with which our relations were very good, and we are shaped in many ways by that legacy,” he said.“Today, the relationship has widened beyond that… It is very much more today an economic relationship as well. So there is a military component, there are nuclear component, there is space issues, but there is a significant amount of trade and investment between the two countries and energy and resources as well… India’s experience has been quite positive and consistently positive” he added.Jaishankar also said India had moved beyond simply advocating dialogue and diplomacy to taking a more active role in efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict.He said India had held conversations with both Kyiv and Moscow in recent months and was trying to address some immediate concerns arising from the conflict.“Our position on that conflict has been very clear, which is that we would like to see an end to this conflict. This will require dialogue and diplomacy. There has to be negotiations in this regard,” he said.“We have been advocating it for many years, and in recent months we have got a little bit more involved beyond advocacy. We have conversations with both Russia and Ukraine in this regard. We are trying to be helpful, starting with the Black Sea safety of shipping issue,” he added.
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Jaishankar said India’s efforts were focused initially on ensuring the safety of shipping in the Black Sea, while also addressing issues related to grain and energy exports.“India is going beyond that to cover some immediate concerns which both of them (Russia and Ukraine) have on grain exports, energy exports, non-attack possibilities. Those are ongoing conversations right now,” he said.His remarks came days after Russian President Vladimir Putin said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had “good ideas” for finding a mutually acceptable solution to the conflict.Ukraine foreign minister Andrii Sybiha had also said on Friday that Kyiv received separate proposals from India and three other countries on a possible ceasefire. India has for more than four years maintained that the Ukraine conflict should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy, PTI reported.PM Modi held wide-ranging talks with Putin in Bishkek on August 31. During the meeting, the Prime Minister stated that “endless war must now give way to end of war”.