New Delhi: After Russian President Vladimir Putin and Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni have publicly expressed that both India and China can play a key role in resolving Ukraine conflict, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese NSA Wang Yi are going to Russia next week for BRICS NSA conference with Ukraine war top of the agenda.
While the government is silent on NSA Doval visit, it is quite evident that Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed the “interesting ideas” discussed with President Putin during his July Russia visit with Ukraine President V Zelensky during his August visit to Kyiv. PM Modi in his remarks during a meeting with President Putin on July 9, 2024 made it clear that peace cannot be found in battlefields and that loss of lives of children and innocents in the Ukraine war was terrible. NSA Ajit Doval accompanied the PM during the Russia and Ukraine visit and knows all about ‘special ideas” to end the war.
While Modi and India baiters feel that the PM went to Ukraine on August 23 to balance foreign relations with the west, the fact is that Zelensky had invited him to Ukraine during the 2021 Climate Change conference in Glasgow. That the PM could not visit Kyiv earlier as war had broken out between Ukraine and Russia.
“India and the world want the Ukraine war to end and in that context PM Modi is talking to all parties. He has no desire to be a mediator between Russia and Ukraine but supports all initiatives to stop the war so that children and women are not targeted by missiles, rockets and bullets,” said a senior official. The telephonic conversation with US President Joe Biden and Russian President Putin after the PM’s visit to Ukraine should be seen in the context of war resolution and not as a balancing act.
It is understood that PM Modi discussed the ‘special ideas’ with President Zelensky during his Kyiv visit and was totally unfazed by the vocal reaction of the Ukraine President to the Indian media.
NSA Ajit Doval will be meeting his BRICS counterparts including those from China and Brazil to discuss on how the multi-grouping can support the no war initiative and put an end to the suffering. Already both President Putin and PM Meloni have urged India and China to play a role in conflict resolution with PM Modi having close ties with leaders of Russia and Ukraine.
President Putin and PM Modi have a strong bond as both are nationalist leaders and the two have spent hours discussing global affairs. Just as President Putin trusts PM Modi, the Indian leader has given no grounds for President Zelensky to mistrust him. Fact is that India has no options but to buy crude oil from Russia in order to keep inflation in check and that Russia continues to be a major defence supplier to India. Ukraine also has significant military and bilateral cooperation with India.
