Abu Dhabi/London, Dec. 12 (PTI): India can play a bridging role in an increasingly divided world around conflicts such as the war in Ukraine, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday.
At the India Global Forum (IGF) UAE summit in Abu Dhabi, the minister highlighted two big divides in the world today, largely impacted by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and analysed the role countries like India and the UAE can play.
"One is the East-West divide centring around Ukraine and the other is a north-south divide centring around development," said Jaishankar.
"Ukraine is also having an impact on development. I do believe a country like India can play that bridging role, not alone but with other countries like UAE. There is the need today to bridge," he said.
Dr Anwar Mohammed Gargash, the Diplomatic Adviser to the UAE President, who was in conversation with Jaishankar during the summit session, called for a "quick end to the conflict in Ukraine".
"It will not end except politically. It is in our interest to ensure a political process that ends this conflict," he said.
Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24. The Russian action has been widely condemned by the US-led West.
India has repeatedly called on Russia and Ukraine to return to the path of diplomacy and dialogue and end their ongoing conflict.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken to the presidents of Russia and Ukraine on multiple occasions and urged for immediate cessation of hostilities and return to the path of diplomacy and dialogue for the resolution of the conflict.
In his bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Uzbekistan on September 16, Modi said "today's era is not of war" and nudged him to end the conflict.
India has not yet criticised the Russian attack on Ukraine and has been maintaining that the crisis should be resolved through dialogue.
Earlier, Jaishankar opened the UAE summit, organised by UK-headquartered India Global Forum, with a keynote address around the geopolitical developments in the region and the role being played by India and the UAE as "partners for global impact".
On UAE-India bilateral relations, the minister noted that the historic ties have within it "centuries of comfort" with an often "intuitive" element.
He pointed to the UAE as India's third largest trade partner and second largest export destination and an important partner as the country with more Indian citizens than anywhere else abroad.