At Quad meet, PM Modi calls for return to path of dialogue and diplomacy on Ukraine crisis
New Delhi(PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday emphasised the need to return to a path of dialogue and diplomacy in dealing with the Ukraine crisis during a virtual meeting of Quad leaders.
Besides Modi, the meeting was attended by US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida.
"Developments in Ukraine were discussed in the meeting, including its humanitarian implications. The Prime Minister emphasised the need to return to a path of dialogue and diplomacy," an official statement said.
In his remarks, Modi also reiterated the importance of adhering to the UN Charter, international law and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity. The meeting reviewed the progress on Quad's initiatives since the summit talks in September.
"The leaders agreed on accelerating cooperation, with an objective to achieve concrete outcomes by the summit in Japan later this year," the statement said.
It said Modi underlined that the Quad must remain focused on its core objective of promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.
"He called for concrete and practical forms of cooperation within the Quad, in areas like humanitarian and disaster relief, debt sustainability, supply chains, clean energy, connectivity, and capacity-building," it said.
The leaders also discussed other topical issues, including the situation in Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean region and the Pacific Islands.
"The leaders agreed to stay in touch and to work towards an ambitious agenda for the forthcoming Leaders' Summit in Japan," the statement said.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
