INDIA on Wednesday reiterated that the best option to resolve the Ukraine conflict is dialogue and diplomacy as Prime Minister Narendra Modi travels to Italy to attend the annual summit of G7 grouping that is set to focus on dealing with global geopolitical turmoil. Modi, accompanied by a high-level delegation, will travel to Italy on Thursday to attend an outreach session on the summit on June 14. It will be his first trip abroad after assuming charge as Prime Minister for the third term. The G7 summit, to be held in the luxury resort of Borgo Egnazia in Italy’s Apulia region from June 13 to 15, is expected to be dominated by the raging war in Ukraine and the conflict in Gaza. “We have always maintained that dialogue and diplomacy is the best option,” Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said at a media briefing when asked what would be India’s approach to resolve the Ukraine conflict. He also recalled Modi’s statement in September 2022 that “today’s era is not of war”.

 

Kwatra talked about the consequences of the war including its derivative impact on food, fuel and fertiliser availability, challenges to global supply chains and disruptions in the global economy. “We have always been in the forefront to talk about not just the conflict, the need for dialogue and diplomacy but also the way the conflict is impacting on the priorities and interests of the developing countries,” he said. “We have always been at forefront to offer assistance wherever we can to alleviate challenges faced by the Global South because of the conflict, humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and also to the Global South affected by conflict,” he said. PM Modi to participate in Swiss peace summit: INDIA on Wednesday said it will participate in the upcoming peace summit on the Ukraine conflict in Switzerland at an appropriate level.

 

The summit will take place at Bürgenstock in Lucerne on June 15 and 16. Switzerland has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend it. However, it is almost certain that Modi will not participate in it with sources indicating that a senior diplomat may represent India at the summit. India will attend the peace summit in Switzerland at the “appropriate level”, Kwatra said. That consideration is currently going on in the system and as and when we have a decision on the representative from India who’ll be participating, we’ll be very happy to share it with you, he said. Last month, Swiss State Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alexandre Fasel visited India to invite it for the summit.