 "PM Modi’s Ukraine visit: Key takeaways for India")
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Poland and Ukraine from August 21 to 23 was a historic moment for Indian diplomacy. It made two forays. It went beyond the Western narrative; despite the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, India has maintained good ties with Russia, and our new-found strength is that in the post-Cold War era we don’t see East and Central Europe through the Russian eyes. Just as Russia has broad foreign policy options in our and their neighbourhood in engaging China, North Korea, and Pakistan, we also have options in engaging Ukraine and Poland in our national interest and in the interest of international peace and security.
The high point of the Prime Minister’s visit was his trip to Ukraine, which came after a successful visit to Russia six weeks ago and was extremely important from India’s point of view. This visit also reflects India’s strategic autonomy and ability to make independent foreign policy choices, where it was shown to the warring groups that it can act independently. India’s excellent economic and strategic relations with Russia can be seen as an example of how India has managed to walk the proverbial tightrope.
Peace in Ukraine
The Indian position has been clear and consistent ever since the war started. This was expressed through PM Modi’s face-to-face interaction with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the SCO summit meeting 2022, when he famously remarked that “this is not an era of war”. This was further reiterated in his personal meeting this July in Moscow when he repeated similar sentiments when he said peace is “of the utmost importance” and a solution to the war in Ukraine “cannot be found on the battlefield”. “I know that war cannot solve problems, solutions, and peace talks can’t succeed among bombs, guns, and bullets. And we need to find a way to peace through dialogue,” had said the Indian Prime Minister.
India has consistently abstained from resolutions that have supported the cause of either party to the war, making it an ideal candidate for attempting to bring the parties together. The visit coincided with Ukraine’s gambit in Kursk, which may be an important tipping point in the conflict.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsIndia has desisted from being a party to the war, nor has it strictly followed the sanctions imposed by the US and many other states. Instead, it has helped Ukraine through humanitarian assistance. India, in recent months, has become the largest importer of Russian oil and gas, drawing the ire of the Western states, which, as interpreted by Ukraine and put forward by the Western narrative, makes India a party to the war by adding up to the war coffers of Russia by purchasing the Russian oil and gas. President Volodymyr Zelensky pointed this out to PM Modi during his trip. This was repudiated by Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, who termed India’s oil purchase from Russia as a commercial move intended to control inflation rather than a political move.
The hopes of immediate diplomatic solutions were not expected from the trip. Heads of government of Turkey, Hungary, Indonesia, and South Africa have travelled to Moscow and Kyiv to start the peace process. India’s efforts were only one more effort in that direction. The Indian PM’s visit was different from all other visits that have happened in the past. India represents one of the most important leaders of the Global South. The International Peace Summit was convened in Switzerland on June 15 and 16, to reach an agreement on the issue. Still, a consensus sought to arrive at the summit with Global South countries could not be reached because one of the parties to the war, Russia, was not invited to the conference. Many countries of the Global South, including India, objected to this. Ukraine is planning a similar conference in November, where Zelensky has mooted that India should host the conference in which Global South countries can come together to resolve the conflict. “I told Prime Minister Modi we could have the Global Peace Summit in India. It’s a big country; it’s a great democracy—the largest one,” President Zelensky said. However, the question remains whether Russia will be invited for the same.
Takeaways for India
India has shown the international community that it is committed to peace and is ready to talk to the parties in dispute to sit together and end the ongoing war. New Delhi has successfully put forth the idea that India is serious about ending the conflict and wishes to be a mediator if the process starts. It has also reaffirmed that it cannot sit at the side and do nothing. The problem remains regarding changing the status quo when both parties have taken a maximalist position.
Amitabh Singh teaches at Russian and Central Asian Studies, School of International Studies at JNU, New Delhi. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.
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