As the Russia-Ukraine war drags past four and a half years, a senior European lawmaker is making a direct appeal to India.
David McAllister, Chair of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, told NDTV’s Foreign Affairs Editor Aditya Raj Kaul that India “is one of the players who might be able to navigate and negotiate between Moscow and Kyiv.”
His message to Moscow was blunt. “This is an illegal war of aggression. It violates the United Nations Charter. “We Europeans need to do more for our own security and defense. That is part of our strategic sovereignty. It’s not in competition with NATO. The sharpest message was on economic dependence. “President Putin used this as a political tool against us to try to put us under pressure.
Europe wants the war to end, he said, but “it needs to be a just and sustainable solution, which includes absolute concrete security guarantees for Ukraine. McAllister said Europe must carry more of its own security burden. He wants “a European defense union,” but stressed it is “not against NATO. McAllister said Europe learned the hard way from its reliance on Russian energy. That, he said, is the logic behind the India-EU free trade agreement. “These wars and these international crises have shown how vulnerable our economies are, and we have to strengthen our resilience.”
Praise For India’s Role
He welcomed India’s contribution on specific issues, including the safety of shipping in the Black Sea. “India has traditionally good contacts to Russia. But Prime Minister Modi also visited Kyiv and has also established contacts to President Zelenskyy. The question put to him referred to PM Modi’s repeated message that this is not an era of war, and to his recent meetings with President Putin. McAllister did not criticise India’s strategic autonomy.
He framed India as a possible bridge: “to find a sustainable and just solution for this war.”
