Indian Foreign minister S. Jaishankar sharply responded to a journalist questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent hug with Russian President Vladimir Putin, asserting it was not the journalist's place to judge cultural gestures. This exchange occurred as Modi met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.
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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.