India calls upon Russia, Ukraine for dialogue & diplomacy

Vienna, Jan 02: India has since the beginning been asking for a peaceful settlement of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Reasserting the line, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has again reiterated that Russia-Ukraine conflict is a matter of deep concern and requires both countries to return to dialogue and diplomacy for an amicable solution for regional peace.

Interacting with the Indian diaspora at Vienna in Austria, the minister admitted that India has always stood with peace and therefore urged Russia and Ukraine to return to dialogue and diplomacy. This has not come for the first time from India as even Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said it multiple times and at several platforms and fora that the two warring nations need to sit and talk.

Ukraine expecting India play a role

The repeat question that Jaishankar has been asked has come within days of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's telephone to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Ukrainian President has been requesting India to play a role in the ongoing conflict and offer a peace formula, especially since Modi and Putin share a great bonhomie.

Needless to say, Modi had presented a peace formula with Russia at the G20 Bali summit. He then had asked the two nations to come on to the talk table for a peaceful settlement for the outstanding issues. Zelensky expects that with Modi's equation with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the kind of influence he has with the latter, India could be their saviour.

Modi used influence over Putin to avert nukes in Ukraine

Prime Minister Modi's emergence as a global leader is also playing in the psyche of Ukrainian leadership. Especially after the recent remarks by CIA director William J. Burns that India's PM had used his influence over Putin and persuaded him not to use nuclear weapons in Ukrainian war fields. This is equally true that given the situation Putin had warned of nuclear weapons.

The admission from Burns may not go well with certain camps in India, including opposition leader Rahul Gandhi who has been claiming that the Modi government has failed in foreign policy. However, the truth will always remain that India under the current government has been able to not only assert itself but managed to get its national interest on the top of everything else.

When Ukrainian President thanks India's Prime Minister for his support of Ukraine's 'integrity', it means a lot. He did not stop here as he again invited Modi to visit the eastern European country ravaged by the war and vagaries of nature.