External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday met United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and discussed the global impact of the Ukraine war amongst other issues.
“Exchanged views on the global impact of the Ukraine conflict, especially on food and energy security,” Jaishankar said in a tweet after the meeting. “Implications for developing countries are serious.”
Russia attacked Ukraine on February 24, in what it called a “special operation” to demilitarise and “de-Nazify” its neighbouring country. Ukraine and Western allies have said that this is a baseless pretext for a war of choice.
There have been 4,577 civilian casualties in Ukraine till April 13, according to the United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner.
After Thursday’s meeting, Jaishankar said that he appreciates the United Nations chief’s interest in working with India to “effectively address important contemporary challenges”.
The foreign minister said that the latest developments in Afghanistan and Myanmar were also discussed during the meeting.
The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan on August 15 after the United States and its allies pulled their troops from the country after 20 years.
Recently, the insurgent group had ordered the shutting down of girls’ secondary schools in the country, just hours after they were reopened for the first time since August. It had also directed television channels in the country not to air shows featuring women actors and had called for a ban on content that goes against Islamic values.
On April 11, India, along with the United States, had called on the Taliban to respect the human rights of all Afghans, including women, children and members of minority groups.
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