Foreign Minister Schallenberg Continues His Travels With a Visit to India
AUSTRIA, March 19 - Following his stay in Pakistan, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg will continue his journey with a trip to India from 19th to 21st March 2022. In the capital, New Delhi, he is scheduled to have meetings with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and national security advisor Ajit Doval. In addition to other regional and international security-policy topics, they will primarily discuss the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine.
We are deeply concerned about the steadily growing number of civilian victims and the violations of international humanitarian law – Russia is violating the most basic rules of the international security architecture. India has been very actively involved in the last few weeks, not least by evacuating the large number of Indian students who are studying in Ukraine,
explained Foreign Minister Schallenberg.
At the same time, he expressed his regret that India – like Pakistan – was one of the few states that abstained from voting on the United Nations resolutions to condemn the Russian war of aggression. He wants to convince India that this war is not restricted to Europe. Its shock waves would be felt worldwide. India, too, will experience the effects, said Schallenberg, for instance the wheat exports from Ukraine. Thus it is important to keep the pressure on Russia in international forums. India will need to take a position on this as well, he said.
Other topics to be covered during the visit are the situation in Afghanistan and in Myanmar as well as China’s role in the Indo-Pacific region.
Despite the current focus on Russia and Ukraine, we are also watching and eagerly welcome the development of the Indo-Pacific region into a free, open and stable region, in part as a counterbalance to China,
said Foreign Minister Schallenberg.
He described China as a partner, competitor and strategic rival at the same time. India, he said, was the key country in this important geopolitical region:
We want to give Austria a stronger position on the Indian subcontinent’s political and economic-policy map. There is enormous potential here for Austrian companies, for instance in the area of environmental technologies and hydropower.
