India at UNSC assures support to all diplomatic efforts to end Ukraine war

Underlining India's concerns over the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, India's permanent mission to the UN, Pratik Mathur said that India supports all the diplomatic efforts to end the conflict through talks between Ukraine and Russian federation as it has resulted in the loss of numerous lives.

"We support all diplomatic efforts to end the conflict including through talks between Ukraine and the Russian federation. It is in our collective interest to work constructively both inside the United Nations and outside towards seeking an early resolution to this conflict," said Pratik Mathur, at the UNSC Arria-formula meeting in Ukraine on Friday.

Speaking on the conflict further, he said that India has been consistently calling for a complete cessation of all hostilities since the beginning of the war in Ukraine while he advocated the part of dialogue and diplomacy.

With millions becoming homeless and forced to take shelter in neighboring countries, we believe that no solution can arrive at the cost of innocent lives, he said.

On the Cultural front, he mentioned how cultural heritage represents the historical record and understanding of the entire spirit of the people and the civilization in terms of values, actions, works, institutions, monuments, and sites.

To protect our cultural heritage is to also protect our common values, he added while addressing the delegations at UNSC on Friday.

This statement also refers to the recent update of Kyiv as it suspended its envoy to New Delhi, along with several other countries.

More than four and half months since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, civilians have suffered from explosions and missile strikes, particularly in eastern cities including Donetsk, Sloviansk, Makiivka, Oleksandrivka, and Yasynuvata, but also in southern parts of oblasts, in Odessa and Mykolaiv.

According to OCHA's latest humanitarian update, while east Ukraine accounts for most of the active warfare, more missile attacks and casualties were reported in the last week in several other regions. These include eastern Kharkiv and western Khmelnytskyi oblasts, where civilians and civilian infrastructure have been impacted heavily.

Last week, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that India has taken the "right course" on the Ukraine conflict and the most urgent issue is to prevent hostilities from escalating to a level where they only do harm.