PM calls for cessation of violence during meet with Russian FM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday evening, in a significant gesture amid international pressure on India to take a stand against Russia's Ukraine invasion. PM Modi and the Russian Foreign Minister met for 40 minutes. In a statement, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said Modi reiterated his call for an early cessation of violence, and conveyed India's readiness to contribute in any way to the peace efforts. Lavrov also updated the Prime Minister on the progress of decisions taken during the India-Russia bilateral Summit held in December 2021, the PMO said. Among those present for the talks were external affairs minister S Jaishankar, national security advisor Ajit Doval and foreign secretary Harshvardhan Shringla. Lavrov was also accompanied by two officials.

Earlier,Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow has developed a system to engage in trade in national currencies with countries such as India and efforts to move away from the dollar-based payment system will intensify. "More and more transactions will be done using national currencies and bypassing a dollar-based system," he said at a press conference after holding talks with external affairs minister S Jaishankar in New Delhi. Lavrov said a rupee-ruble payment system for trade with India was put into place earlier and it could be strengthened further. He added that Russia's central bank had several years ago established a system for the communication of financial information and India had a similar system.

Lavrov said Moscow is ready to provide anything that New Delhi wants to buy. "We are friends," he told reporters. Russia is the biggest supplier of defence equipment to India and Lavrov said the two countries would use a rupee-ruble mechanism to trade oil, military hardware and other goods. "I have no doubt that a way would be (found) to bypass the artificial impediments which illegal unilateral sanctions by the West create. This relates also to the area of military-technical cooperation," he said. Lavrov said there was some movement forward in negotiations with Ukraine. "Non-nuclear, non-bloc, neutral status - it is now being recognised as absolutely necessary," he said.

The Russian foreign minister also complimented India for its position on the Ukraine crisis, saying it follows an independent foreign policy. India can play a mediator's role between Moscow and Kyiv, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said. Lavrov also said the US pressure will not affect the partnership between India and Russia. . They (US) are forcing others to follow their politics, said Lavrov while replying to a question about US pressure affecting India-Russia ties. This is Lavrov's first trip to India since Moscow launched a "special military operation" in Ukraine on February 24.