India, Germany to hold talks as EU mulls curbs

NEW DELHI: Amid renewed global efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict, Germany's foreign minister Johann David Wadephul is visiting India and is scheduled to hold talks with his counterpart S Jaishankar Wednesday. Wadephul will also hold talks with commerce minister Piyush Goyal, as the two countries look to expand their trade and investment ties.

The visit is taking place days after a "brainstorming" meeting of EU foreign and defence ministers in which the participants discussed the way forward in their support for Ukraine. One of the measures mulled was secondary sanctions against Russia's trading partners, which could complicate India's energy ties with Russia.

These issues are likely to be discussed during Wadephul's meetings here, sources said. Jaishankar had told his Finland counterpart Elina Valtonen in a phone conversation last week that India should not be unfairly targeted over Ukraine conflict. He is again likely to stress that India has always backed dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the conflict and wants it to end at the earliest.

This was also the message conveyed to President Vladimir Putin by PM Narendra Modi at their meeting in China on Monday. Wadephul has expressed doubts about whether Putin is really interested in peace talks and wants more pressure applied on Russia, including through a fresh EU package of sanctions.

Jaishankar and Wadephul will address the media after their talks Wednesday.