I will not try to summarise the state of the world after Minister Jaishankar has just done so. Let me instead make one observation.

We are entering a world which is more multipolar, more transactional and probably less predictable than the one we became accustomed to after the end of the Cold War.

For countries like ours, I think there is an important lesson in this.

We need more partnerships – but we should avoid creating new dependencies.

And this is also why I believe Europe and India should talk to each other more.

Europe does not need India to become more European. And India does not need Europe to become more Indian.

What we need is a better understanding of where our interests converge – and enough honesty to discuss where they do not.

Ukraine is perhaps a good example.

Our histories, our geography and our immediate security interests are different. It would therefore be surprising if our perspectives were identical.

But we can agree on something fundamental: an endless war is in nobody’s interest.

Prime Minister Modi recently spoke about the need to move from an endless war towards an end to the war. I think this is an important message.

Ultimately, wars do not end with statements. They end when diplomacy becomes possible – and when the parties understand that an agreement serves them better than continuing to fight.

There is also a broader lesson here.

If we want to defend multilateralism, we cannot simply defend the international institutions as they were designed eighty years ago.

We also need to make sure that they reflect the realities of the world today.

The distribution of economic, political and demographic weight has changed enormously.

India is perhaps the clearest example of that change.

So when we speak about a rules-based international order, we should speak not only about preserving rules, but also about ensuring that the institutions behind them remain legitimate and relevant.

This is an area where I believe India and the countries of Central Europe can have a very useful conversation.

We may not always see the world from exactly the same perspective. But perhaps that is precisely why this dialogue is worth having.