France gave advice to India regarding Russian attack on Ukraine!
France has said that India should play a more powerful role in the UN Security Council on the issue of Russia. French Ambassador to India Emmanuel Lenin said on Tuesday that France wants India to present its stand on this issue in front of everyone without any fuss.
France brought a resolution to the UN Security Council to discuss the humanitarian crisis arising after the Russian attack in Ukraine. Meanwhile, the Ambassador of France has given this statement about India. He said, ‘We want India to make its point clearly on this issue.’
In a conversation with the Times of India, the French ambassador said that France understands and respects India’s focus on autonomy. But Ukraine’s action was unnecessary aggression and France hopes that India will speak more strongly in the next meetings of the UN Security Council.
He said that India is a powerful voice in the UNSC, so it is extremely important that its vote matches its words in the upcoming meetings.
India has been avoiding voting in the United Nations
India has so far refrained from voting on all 6 resolutions related to Ukraine in different UN bodies. India has not yet condemned the Russian attack in Ukraine. However, India has called upon the United Nations Security Council to respect the United Nations Charter, international law, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries.
Lenin said that France is also in constant talks with Russia. French President Emmanuel Macron has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin 11 times in the past month. Lenin said that despite the talks, France supported the sanctions imposed on Russia so that it would put pressure on Russia.
He said France’s position is in line with its own strategic autonomy, under which France emphasizes the need for the European Union to reduce its dependence on the US.
He said, ‘We are like India. We are sovereign country and like to take decisions on our own. We fully understand and respect that India does the same. But when there is an attack, you have to explain your position. We do not think that this is a war between two countries. This is a non-democratic country’s war against democracy without any provocation. There were no NATO forces in Ukraine and there were no plans to include Ukraine in NATO.
France persuading India to criticize Russia’s aggression
The ambassador said that France respects the courage of the people of Ukraine and their President Volodymyr Zelensky. Lenin said, ‘Many countries have understood that this is Russian aggression. This has become clear from the huge vote of the countries in the United Nations General Assembly. We want India to join in as well. He said that France and the European Union want their allies to follow the values on which their relationship is based.
The Presidency of the European Union is currently with France and France’s relations with India are also very strong. The ambassador said that France is not at war with Russia and has a longstanding relationship with the people of Russia. Lenin expressed the hope that the ongoing discussion at the UNSC on the proposal for humanitarian aid to Ukraine would get the support of more and more countries.
UN discussion is very important
This discussion is very important because this proposal has already been delayed a lot. The US wants Russia to be clearly held responsible for causing the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. America has also tried to persuade India for this, due to which there has been a delay in bringing the proposal.
Humanitarian aid is also being given by India to the war-torn Ukraine, about which it is being speculated that this time India can say something concrete on the issue of Ukraine-Russia. But India has so far avoided any proposal to hold Russia alone for this crisis.
The Russian ambassador said that the Russo-Ukraine war is going to be long and the worst is yet to come. He also acknowledged India’s concerns about China and said that if I was also a policy maker, I would have worried about China while taking a decision on Russia.
He also rubbished Russia’s claim in which Russia had said that Ukrainian soldiers were using Indians stranded in Ukraine as shields.
He clarified that despite the Ukraine crisis, France remains focused on the Indo-Pacific region and attaches great importance to its relations with India.
