Monday 02 / December / 2024
New Delhi: Balazs Orban, Political director of the Prime Minister and Member of Parliament, Hungary on Thursday expressed his belief that India is a rising power and is playing a crucial role in resolving the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
He also appreciated the way External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is representing India at the global stage.
During an interview with ANI, Orban said, "Your foreign minister is doing a wonderful job. He is representing India in a very strong way on the world stage. India is a rising power. It is playing a more and more important role. It is playing in many conflicts, stabilizing role in the Ukrainian-Russian conflict as well. We think that we are on the same side, on the side of the peace, and we try to coordinate our efforts, to convince the parties, the two parties that are involved in that conflict, and all the potential mediators to do more to stop the bloodshed."
Orban also stressed that Hungary is on the same side and wants a peaceful solution to the war.
Speaking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to Ukraine, Orban said that initiatives like these are "very important" and PM Modi's statements from the visit are "better for the world."
"I think these are very important initiatives. My Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, just after the European Parliamentary elections started the so-called Peace Mission Tour, where he went to Kyiv, Moscow, Beijing and Washington. He also met with with former President Donald Trump, the candidate of the Republican Party, and tried to convince all players to have a new strategy, because what happened in the last two and half years, brought us nowhere, and hundreds of people died, and there is a serious risk of escalation. I think these are very important initiatives, and the more initiatives like this and like Prime Minister Modi's statements are better for the world," said Orban.
The Hungarian MP also spoke about the growing India-Hungary ties and underlined that there are many points where both countries share the same vision.
"India is a civilization, and even in this modern period of time, only those countries can be successful which are building their foreign policy and also domestic policy, on cultural values and historical roots", said Orban.
He further affirmed hope that "there will be higher level visits" between New Delhi and Budapest.
"I think that even on the party basis, the Hungarian Conservative Party and the BJP have many things in common. As we were discussing the idea of sovereignty, fighting against progressives, and advocating in favour of peace and peace for economic cooperation. These are all pillars of our policies. So I'm convinced that we should put more energy into getting our nations and our national leaders closer to each other," he added.
Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also met Hungarian MP Balazs Orban in New Delhi. He appreciated Orban's interest in the India-Hungary historical connection.
"Glad to meet Hungarian MP @BalazsOrban_HU today in Delhi," Jaishankar wrote on X. "A good conversation on our perspectives of the world. Appreciate his interest in our historical connect."
In March this year, a parliamentary delegation led by Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman, RS Harivansh, visited Hungary from March 7-8 on the invitation from Istvan Yakab, Deputy Speaker of the Hungarian National Assembly. Harivansh was accompanied by two Rajya Sabha members, Ashok Bajpai and Lt Gen (Retd) DP Vats, along with Rajya Sabha Secretary-General PC Mody.
Diplomatic relations between India and Hungary are warm, friendly, multi-faceted and substantive, which marked the 75th anniversary of the agreement in 2023.
There have been regular parliamentary exchanges between the two countries.
Zsolt Nemeth, President of the Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Affairs of the Hungarian Parliament, visited India in January 2024.
