00:00India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar left everyone in shock when he defended Prime
00:05Minister Narendra Modi's embrace of Russian President Vladimir Putin during his recent
00:11visit to Russia.
00:12This gesture had drawn criticism from Western media outlets and the Ukrainian President
00:17Volodymyr Zelensky himself, who viewed it as detrimental to peace efforts.
00:23Jaishankar explained that such embraces are a cultural norm in India when greeting people,
00:28highlighting as a potential cultural misunderstanding.
00:33During the briefing on Modi's visit to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a reporter asked
00:38Jaishankar, you spoke about PM Modi's visit to Moscow last month, Modi was seen hugging
00:44Putin with fervour.
00:45I am just wondering whether you had difficulty persuading Zelensky that India is not favouring
00:50Russia but it is indeed pursuing non-alignment?
00:53To which Jaishankar replied, in our part of the world where people meet, they are given
00:58to embrace each other.
01:00It may not be a part of your culture, it is part of our culture.
01:04Take a look yourself what Jaishankar stated.
01:07You know in our part of the world when people meet people, they are given to embracing each
01:13other.
01:14It may not be part of your culture but I assure you it is part of ours.
01:18So in fact today I think I saw the Prime Minister also embrace President Zelensky and
01:24I have seen him do it with a number of other leaders in a number of other places.
01:29So I think perhaps we have a slightly cultural gap here in terms of what these courtesies
01:41mean.
01:42PM Modi's visit to Russia last month included a warm welcome from President Putin complete
01:47with a hug that sparked controversy.
01:49Jaishankar pointed out that Modi has similarly embraced other world leaders including Zelensky
01:54during his subsequent visit to Ukraine, emphasising that this is a common Indian courtesy.
02:00Modi's recent visit to Ukraine marked a significant milestone as this was the first visit by an
02:05Indian Prime Minister since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries
02:09in 1992.
02:12The visit aimed to strengthen bilateral ties and included discussion on various sectors
02:16such as trade, economic, defence, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and education.
02:22In his meeting with Zelensky, PM Modi again urged that the dialogue is the only solution
02:26for the ongoing war in Ukraine.
02:28He asserted that India has consistently been on the table of peace contrary to perceptions
02:33of neutrality.
02:35Modi also expressed India's readiness to play an active role in promoting peace and
02:39progress in the region.
02:41You know, in our part of the world, when people meet people, they are given to embracing
02:47each other.
02:48It may not be part of your culture but I assure you it's part of ours.
02:53So in fact, today I think I saw the Prime Minister also embrace President Zelensky and
02:58I've seen him do it with a number of other leaders in a number of other places.
03:04So I think perhaps we have a slightly cultural gap here in terms of what these courtesies
03:15mean.
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