India offers to mediate in Russia-Ukraine war

In a major development, India joined a select group of nations on Tuesday offering to mediate between Russia and Ukraine to help resolve the ongoing conflict, writes ETV Bharat's Sanjib Kr Baruah.

New Delhi: With an eye to leverage and capitalize on the close relations it enjoys with both Russia and Ukraine and also enhance its strategic role on the global stage, India has offered to play mediator in the ongoing conflict. An official release by the Kremlin on Monday evening said: “Narendra Modi indicated his readiness to provide any possible assistance in order to resolve the conflict as soon as possible.”

The Russian statement followed after a telephone conversation Monday between the Indian PM and Russian President Vladimir Putin. By doing so, India has joined a select group of nations offering to mediate including facilitating negotiations between the two sides. The other nations offering to mediate include China, Israel, Turkey and Belarus.

Russian and Ukrainian delegations have met thrice over the past few days with another round being scheduled between the foreign ministers of the two sides on Thursday (March 10) in Turkey. India’s decision to make the offer may also have been due to reported intense US pressure on India during the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or ‘Quad’ that took place virtually on March 3 (Thursday) to make its stand clear on the conflict. India has on several occasions abstained from voting in the UN on several issues against Russia relating to the ongoing conflict.

The Russian Charge d’Affaires at the Russian Embassy in New Delhi, Roman Babushkin, had welcomed India's stance. “Russia welcomes the Indian position expressed several times in this regard because India is acting according to its status of a global power and takes a balanced and independent position,” said Babushkin. ETV Bharat had written on February 24, the day Russia sent its forces into Ukraine, about the grand opportunity that India has to enhance its global standing by playing a mediating role.

India and Russia have been militarily close for the last eight decades with the deep cooperation being extended to 2031 by an agreement in December 2021. While the main trade is that of military equipment with about 60 percent of Indian weapons, platforms and systems already of Russian origin, Russia also supplies energy items, agricultural fertilizers, and diamonds, etc to India. On the other hand, besides being a major supplier of edible oil to India, Ukraine has been a dedicated supplier for spares and parts of many Indian military equipment and platforms—a legacy of the Soviet-era relationship with India.

The Kremlin statement pointed out that the Russian military is making every effort possible to ensure the evacuation of Indian citizens from the Sumy, a city in Ukraine where hundreds of Indian citizens, mainly students, are trapped without food and amenities and are keenly waiting to return to India. The Indian PM expressed gratitude to the Russian side for the measures taken to return his compatriots to their homeland, the statement added.