MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th September, 2022) India will express its position on referendums on joining Russia in the Donetsk and Luhansk republics and the Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson at the United Nations, Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said.
"I think it is an issue that will be coming up for consideration, my understanding, is in the United Nations. So, I would urge you to wait and see what our ambassador (Ruchira Kamboj) there has to say," Jaishankar said on Wednesday, as quoted by Indian news outlet Deccan Herald.
The diplomat noted that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal to end hostilities in Ukraine he made during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Samarkand were not a change in New Delhi's position on the Ukrainian conflict.
"It was an obvious subject to come up at the meeting. The position that the Prime Minister took was consistent with the position that we have been taking earlier. Now, possibly it was received and perceived in a way because it was a face-to-face meeting, whereas earlier on these were reports of conversations that had taken place," the foreign minister added.
The republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, and the Russian-controlled parts of the Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson held referendums on the accession to Russia from September 23-27, with the majority voting in favor of this decision. Putin said last week that Russia would accept any outcome of the referendums.
