US, France echo Prime Minister Modi’s profound statement: This is NOT the Era of War
New York/Washington. The US and France have strongly endorsed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s straight talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Ukraine that “today’s era is not of war” as he urged him to end the conflict.
“Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, was right when he said the time is not for war. It is not for revenge against the West, or for opposing the West against the East. It is the time for a collective time for our sovereign equal states. To cope together with challenges we face,”
French President Emmanuel Macron said while addressing the UN General Assembly.
Those countries which have chosen to be “neutral” and “non-aligned” are “mistaken” and have a historical responsibility to speak out, Macron said, pointing out to member countries that if something similar happens to them by a more powerful neighbour, nobody would want that regional countries and the world be silent.
Macron said that “some countries” at the General Assembly have maintained a form of “neutrality” on the Ukraine war, but those who remain “non-aligned” and refuse to express themselves clearly are “mistaken” and have a “historical responsibility”.
The “fight of the non-aligned” was a “fight for peace” and “fight for sovereignty and territorial integrity of each state”…this is the fight of the non-aligned”, Macron maintained.
“It is near for the Europeans who have chosen to support Ukraine…It is further away for many of you, but we all have direct consequences and we all have a role to play in ending it because we are all paying the price,” he said, adding that the war launched by Russia flouts the principles of international order.
“Which of you could consider that the day when something similar is done by a more powerful neighbour, the silence of the region and the world would be the best answer?…Nobody. Contemporary imperialism is not European or Western,” Macron asserted.
In Washington, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said: “I think what Prime Minister Modi said — a statement of principle on behalf of what he believes is right and just — was very much welcomed by the United States.”
All countries should follow the principle that one cannot conquer its neighbour’s territory by force, Sullivan maintained.