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Key expert praises Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar's Moscow visit as ‘very positive’

It was noted that the sides confirmed their positions on a number of issues, including Ukraine

NEW DELHI, November 9. /TASS/. Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar’s visit to Moscow, where he met with Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday, was ‘very positive’, high-profile political expert and Distinguished Fellow at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation Nandan Unnikrishnan told TASS on Wednesday.

"I would say it was a very positive visit. It was a meeting between the representatives of two states that are long-time friends. They discussed bilateral relations and the international situation. In a friendly atmosphere and with complete frankness for sure. This can be seen from the press conference [between Jaishankar and Lavrov]," the expert said.

He noted that the sides confirmed their positions on a number of issues, including Ukraine. "There were no surprises. The sides confirmed their positions, even on Ukraine: this position was expressed even by our prime minister [Narendra Modi], who said during a meeting with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin that the current era is not an era of war, and we need to find some solution to this problem through diplomacy," he said.

At the same time, the expert pointed out that India was not going to alienate itself from the Russian Federation. "India will continue its friendly relations with Russia, even if our positions on Ukraine do not exactly coincide."

Unnikrishnan believes that Washington and other Western capitals kept a close eye on the meeting. "I think that Washington was following [Jaishankar’s] visit to Moscow with great attention. The West needs India to join it, to fully embrace its policy of isolating Russia. But I believe they also understand that so far India has no intention of moving in that direction, and Jaishankar’s visit proves it," the expert added.