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'India can stop the Ukraine war': Polish Deputy FM says Modi 'among few who can influence' Putin
The Polish minister also discussed the developments of 2022, when India intervened in the war and called for nuclear de-escalation.
As the Russia-Ukraine war continues to escalate, Poland has identified India as a key country which can bring an end to the conflict. Speaking to reporters, Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Wladyslaw Teofil Bartoszewski stated that India's intervention in 2022 stopped the conflict from turning into a nuclear one.
Speaking to news agency ANI, the Polish minister further stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is among the few leaders who can actually influence Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a very well-known world statesman, who is very respected, and India has a long-standing relationship with the Russian Federation and, before that, with the Soviet Union as a non-aligned nation. President Putin actually pays attention to what Prime Minister Modi tells him," he told ANI.
“Prime Minister Modi is one of the few people who actually can exert some pressure and influence on President Putin, and that is clearly something India could do to stop this conflict,” Bartoszewski added further.
The Polish minister also discussed the developments of 2022, when India intervened in the war and called for nuclear de-escalation.
This was also when India launched “Operation Ganga” to bring back thousands of Indian students who were stranded in Ukraine due to Russian attacks.
Putin’s praise for India
President Putin last month praised India as a "great country" and defended New Delhi's independent foreign policy. These remarks from Putin came amid an ongoing tiff between India and the United States over New Delhi’s purchase of Russian oil and trade ties.
Putin also took a dig at the US and its attempt to pressure New Delhi over its cooperation with Russia, saying such moves are "detrimental" to bilateral and international relations.
"We are glad that India is developing its relations with all the countries. It's a great country. It's only natural that it (India) develops its economy in accordance with its interests with those countries that it deems necessary,” Putin said while speaking to the media at the St Petersburg Economic Forum.
(With inputs from ANI)
