Opposition, govt on same page on ‘neutral’ vote

NEW DELHI: "India is India, Ukraine is Ukraine and India is not Ukraine", external affairs minister S Jaishankar is learnt to have said to Parliament's consultative committee on external affairs when asked about the possibility of the Russian template being used by China in Arunachal Pradesh.
Responding to another question about the possibility of the United States diluting its focus on the Indo-Pacific because of India's refusal to vote against Russia in the United Nations, Jaishankar is learnt to have said: “Others may take their eyes off the Indo-Pacific, but I have my eyes on China".
The deliberations of the parliamentary panel are held in camera, but more than one source referred to Jaishankar's comments as the highlight of the deliberations which were held in a non-partisan manner and was marked by government candidly explaining its position on Russia's aggression against Ukraine and, also, sharing details of the evacuation of Indians stranded in Ukraine.
Opposition leaders and the government unanimously agreed that the government’s decision to remain "neutral" at international fora is in India's best intererst and that bringing home all Indians stranded should be accorded the highest pirotity.
Describing the meeting as “a national consensus on the importance of dialogue and diplomacy,” Jaishankar said on Twitter, “Just completed a MEA consultative committee meeting on developments in Ukraine. A good discussion on the strategic and humanitarian aspects of the issue. Strong and unanimous message of support for efforts to bring back all Indians from Ukraine.”
The minister, sources said, told the group that about 12,000 Indians of the 19,700 who had registered to return in January have crossed the Ukraine border into neighbouring territories and will be flown back to India safely.
Some MPs questioned the timeliness of government action to evacuate Indians and said advisories issued by the Embassy had been confusing, leading to many students choosing to stay back.
The government, source said, was “candid” about the challenges it was facing in evacuating Indian nationals from Kharkiv and Sumy, Ukraine’s Eastern cities, and pointed out that though India has sought a “humanitarian corridor” with Russia to ensure safe passage for the remaining Indians on ground, Russia has not agreed to making such an arrangement so far.
The meeting was attended by Congress MPs Rahul Gandhi, Anand Sharma and Shashi Tharoor along with Shiv Sena’s Priyanka Chaturvedi, BJD’s Sujeet Kumar, and YSR Congress’ BV Satyavathi, among others.
The detailed briefing, which members described as “thoroughly non-combative and constructive”, saw Congress MP Rahul Gandhi point out that “war situations are always challenging and that there are no perfect solutions in such situations”. He asserted, like all leaders in attendance, that prioritising the safe repatriation of stranded Indian is key and lauded the Indian officials for their efforts.
The Congress leader also asked about the geopolitical fallout of the Russia-Ukraine war for India, the growing proximity between China and Pakistan, and whether Russia’s actions in Ukraine could serve as a template for China to follow in its dealings in Arunachal Pradesh.
The government, meanwhile, asserted that all decisions were taking keeping India’s strategic national interest at heart and that the US understood this too, considering India’s long-standing relations with Russia.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who “declined media requests for comments since the meeting is confidential”, said on Twitter the group of MPs “urged MEA to issue a more detailed statement than usual” and that all parties were united in their desire to see Indians return home safely.
Sources told TOI that in the meeting, Tharoor sought to know the government’s assessment of what “Russia’s endgame in Ukraine was” – to effect a regime change, create a buffer state or to march in and take over territory. This, he said, was important since each action would have a short or long-term impact on India, prices of crude oil breaching $114 per barrel being a case in point.
While Congress leaders, including Tharoor, supported India’s position at the UN on Ukraine, the latter expressed concerns over India’s failure, in its first two statements at the UN, to uphold its commitment to the principles of international relations, including ‘Panchsheel’, that it stood for over 75 years.
Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, on the other hand, objected to opposition policy makers being “targeted” by foreign ambassadors.
She was referring to her February 28 Twitter in which she claimed that Indians were not being allowed by Poland to enter from Ukraine’s border. The Ambassador of Poland to India, Adam Burakowski, had called out her Twitter post as “fake news” and the Indian embassy in Poland had retweeted the Ambassador.
Chaturvedi called the embassy’s retweeting of the Ambassador’s post as targeted harassment and demanded that the error be “rectified”. Sources said the Jaishankar agreed this should not have been done and said the error would be “fixed”.
MoS external affairs and parliamentary affairs V Muraleedharan later said there was a “clear and unanimous” message of support from the members on the government's efforts to bring back all Indians from Ukraine safely.