New Delhi: Following his historic visits to Poland and Ukraine last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held telephonic conversations with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden during the course of which he shared his insights from his interactions in Kyiv.
Following the conversation between Modi and Putin on Tuesday, the External Affairs Ministry issued a statement saying that the two leaders exchanged views on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
"The Prime Minister shared insights from his recent visit to Ukraine,” the statement reads. “He underlined the importance of dialogue and diplomacy as well as sincere and practical engagement between all stakeholders to achieve an abiding and peaceful resolution of the conflict.”
According to a statement issued by the Kremlin, Modi informed Putin about his recent visit to Kyiv and stressed his commitment to bringing about a settlement for Ukraine by political and diplomatic means.
“Vladimir Putin shared his principled assessment of the destructive policies of the Kyiv authorities and their Western patrons, and went on to highlight Russia’s approaches to resolving this conflict,” the statement reads.
On Monday, Modi spoke with Biden after which the External Affairs Ministry stated that the two leaders had a detailed exchange of views on several regional and global issues.
“While discussing the situation in Ukraine, the Prime Minister briefed President Biden on his recent visit to Ukraine,” a separate statement issued by the External Affairs Ministry reads. “He reiterated India’s consistent position in favour of dialogue and diplomacy and expressed full support for early return of peace and stability.”
According to a statement issued by the White House following the conversation, Biden commended Modi “for his historic visits to Poland and Ukraine, the first by an Indian Prime Minister in decades, and for his message of peace and ongoing humanitarian support for Ukraine, including its energy sector”.
“The leaders affirmed their continued support for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in accordance with international law, based on the UN Charter,” the statement further reads. “The leaders also emphasised their continued commitment to work together, including through regional groups like the Quad, to contribute to peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific.”
Also, on Monday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin met Indian Ambassador to Russia Vinay Kumar in Moscow and explained his country’s “principled position” in the ongoing Ukraine conflict.
“Russia’s principled position on the conflict in Ukraine was again explained to the head of the Indian diplomatic mission,” a statement issued by the Russian Embassy in New Delhi following the meeting reads. “The conversation took place in a trusting and constructive atmosphere.”
Given all this, the question arises as to whether India can play the role of a peacemaker between Russia and Ukraine and bring about a diplomatic resolution to the conflict that has dragged on for over two years now. India has all along maintained that the conflict can only be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.
Following his meeting with Modi last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had said that he informed the former that he would like India to host a second peace summit on Ukraine. Ukraine is looking for a country in the Global South to host such a summit.
“I told Prime Minister Modi that we could have the Global Peace Summit in India,” Zelenskyy had said a day after hosting Modi on August 23. “It’s a big country, it’s a great democracy - the largest one.”
However, he had put forth a condition for a country to host such a summit which India will find difficult to accept. “But I want to be frank, and this applies not only to India, but to any state that would be positive about hosting a second summit,” the Kyiv Independent quoted him as saying during an interaction with Indian journalists. “We will not be able to hold a peace summit in a country that has not yet joined the peace summit communique.”
It needs to be mentioned here that though India has attended all four international meetings on peace in Ukraine leading up to the first peace summit at Burgenstock in Switzerland in June this year, it did not become a signatory to the joint communique issued following the summit.
The Joint Communique on a Peace Framework became the final statement of the summit and was supported by the majority of participants. In the Joint Communique, the signees declared that they agreed to take “concrete steps… with further engagement of the representatives of all parties” on three themes: nuclear power and weapons, food security, prisoners and deportees.
The signees agreed that “Ukrainian nuclear power plants and installations, including Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, must operate safely and securely under full sovereign control of Ukraine and in line with IAEA principles and under its supervision” and that “any threat or use of nuclear weapons in the context of the ongoing war against Ukraine is inadmissible”. They declared that for the “supply of food products…attacks on merchant ships in ports and along the entire route, as well as against civilian ports and civilian port infrastructure, are unacceptable” and that “Ukrainian agricultural products should be securely and freely provided to interested third countries”. They stated that “all prisoners of war must be released” and that all children and “other Ukrainian civilians, who were unlawfully detained, must be returned to Ukraine”.
However, India, though a participant in the Burgenstock summit, did not become a party to the communiqué as it was based on two earlier UN resolutions on Ukraine. India had abstained from both these resolutions. Also, Russia was not invited to the summit. It was not made a participant in the earlier four peace meetings either. India has always maintained that to find a resolution to the conflict, Russia has to be brought on board.
In fact, at a media briefing in Kyiv following the Modi-Zelenskyy, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar clearly stated: “Our view is that any exercise if it has to be productive, will naturally have to involve the other party concerned (meaning Russia). It cannot be a one-sided effort.”
Hence, the issue of whether India can play the role of a peacemaker rests on two primary questions. Will the West agree to have Russia on board any peace summit? And, will India agree to become a party to the joint communiqué issued following the Switzerland peace summit as Zelenskyy wants?
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