India, France call to end hostilities in Ukraine

Paris: Expressing "serious concern" over the Russia-Ukraine conflict, India and France have called for an immediate cessation of hostilities to bring parties together to promote dialogue and diplomacy for finding an immediate end to the suffering of the people.

The two countries called for promoting dialogue and diplomacy in a joint statement issued after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and French President Emmanuel Macron here on Wednesday. The two leaders discussed at length bilateral as well as global issues and agreed on an ambitious agenda for the next phase of the India-France Strategic Partnership. According to the joint statement, France reiterated its "strong condemnation" of the "unlawful and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine by Russian Forces".

India and France expressed "serious concern" at the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, it said. "They unequivocally condemned civilian deaths in Ukraine and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities to bring parties together to promote dialogue and diplomacy to find an immediate end to the suffering of the people," the statement said. Both countries also underlined the need to respect the UN Charter, international law and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states, it said. Modi and Macron discussed the regional and global implications of the conflict in Ukraine and agreed to intensify coordination on the issue. India and France also expressed deep concern about the current aggravation of global food security and nutrition, already impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, and especially in developing countries.

The statement said the two countries are committed to enabling a coordinated, multilateral response to address the risk of aggravated food crisis because of the conflict in Ukraine, including through initiatives such as the Food and Agriculture Resilience Mission (FARM), which aims at ensuring well-functioning markets, solidarity and long-term resilience.