Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statements in Samarkand, directly aimed at Russian President Vladimir Putin, that this was not the "era of war", had caused a lot of international furore. Immediately afterwards, Russian ambassador to India Denis Alipov had accused Western nations of cherry-picking lines from PM Modi's comments, highlighting his comments on “the unbreakable friendship between the two nations”.
Now, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has described Russia as a "major partner in many domains".
Jaishankar had met his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov for a "wide-ranging" conversation that included "bilateral cooperation, Ukraine, G-20 and UN reforms. "A wide-ranging conversation with FM Sergey Lavrov at #UNGA 77. Discussed our bilateral cooperation. Exchanged views on Ukraine, G-20 and UN reforms," Jaishankar tweeted.
He said while "obviously" there are big issues, which focus both on the Russians and the rest of the world, the relationship has to address its own requirements, processes and objectives. "We spend some time on the bilateral side, where things are, taking stock," he said, adding that they also spoke in "some detail" about issues related to Ukraine. "A lot of it was he briefed me about various developments from the Russian perspective. I also shared with him what I picked up from some of the others. So that was a back and forth conversation," he said.
The meeting came just hours before Jaishankar's address to the high-level UN General Assembly's general debate. Lavrov is also scheduled to address the General Assembly on Saturday.
