With the G20 Presidency and New Delhi’s unique position, why India could resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict

New Delhi, Dec 27: Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has on several occasions spoken with President Vladimir Putin and President Volodymyr Zelensky.

PM Modi has always reiterated that dialogue and diplomacy are the only way forward to resolve the conflict. The experts have always pointed out that New Delhi's unique position as both a friend of Russia as well as the West puts it in a great position to resolve the conflict. While India has reiterated to Russia that dialogue is the only way forward, it has always supported the humanitarian needs in Ukraine.

With the energy crisis rising, the world would look to India's unique position to resolve the crisis. Recognising the high possibility of the same, Mexico had proposed that the United Nations set up a committee comprising Prime Minister Modi, Pope Francis and UN Secretary General to mediate permanent peace between Russia and Ukraine.

The Western media initially was critical of India reluctance to criticise Russia. While India continued to insist on dialogue it refused to endorse Russian aggression and underlined the need to respect the United Nations Charter. India has also on several occasions warned against the use of nuclear weapons.

One must also bear in mind the diplomatic contributions by India in helping overcome the grain shipment deal from Ukraine and also reducing the growing risks of the war targeting the nuclear power station at Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine.

The signals from both Russia and Ukraine are clear when it comes to India's role in ending the conflict. In Monday's talks President Zelensky said that in a phone call with PM Modi he wished India a successful presidency and it was on this platform that I announced the peace formula and now I count on India's participation in its implementation. This was the fourth call between the two leaders since the outbreak of the conflict, during which PM Modi strongly reiterated his call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and added that both sides should revert to dialogue and diplomacy to find a long lasting solution to their differences. India's Prime Minister also offered India's support for any peace efforts.

Further it was India approach to the conflict that today is not an era of war that helped the G20 negotiators finalise the draft communique. These words found resonance during the negotiations. The same words were used by PM Modi during a meeting with President Putin at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Uzbekistan on September 16. PM Modi had urged President Putin to end the war. He also highlighted the problems of food and energy security being faced by the developing nations.

The draft also said that most G20 members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine while stressing that it caused immense human suffering and fragilities in the global economy.

With India's G20 presidency underway, all eyes would be on New Delhi on how it would take the peace talks further. With both leaders dialling India's PM on several occasions and given that India enjoys a unique position in the world arena today, the experts feel that the chances of New Delhi playing a major role in resolving the crisis is not ruled out.