NEW DELHI—In what may be seen as a diplomatic initiative, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has now visited both parties in the war between Russia and Ukraine, completing his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week after traveling to Moscow to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin six weeks earlier.
Modi was accompanied on his Aug. 23 trip to Ukraine by Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar and national security adviser Ajit Doval, a move that analysts said underscored the serious nature of the visit.
During the historic trip, the first by an Indian prime minister since Ukraine’s independence in 1991, Modi and Zelenskyy held one-on-one delegation level talks with the aim of finding a negotiated solution to the conflict.
Modi said he came with a “message of peace” from the 1.4 billion people of India and from other countries of the global south.
“The path to a solution emerges from dialogue and diplomacy and, without wasting time, we should move in that direction. The two sides should sit together and search for ways to get out of this hour of crisis,” he said.
Experts called Modi’s visit a balancing act, as the Indian prime minister emphasized dialogue and diplomacy over war.
India’s Unique Position
Dilip Sinha, a veteran diplomat who served as India’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva from 2012 to 2014, told The Epoch Times that Modi’s visit to Kyiv was a “balancing act,” in light of the criticism he received after his Moscow visit.Sinha noted that Modi’s Russia trip coincided with heightened developments in the region. Just hours before he landed in Moscow, missiles killed 41 people in Ukraine, including children in a Kyiv hospital. The trip also occurred right before the annual NATO summit in Washington, where the Russia–Ukraine war was a main agenda item.
“Zelenskyy had made a very strong statement at that time, [which] in fact, was personally directed against the Prime Minister, because he said in the tweet that he was hugely disappointed to see the leader of the world’s largest democracy hug the world’s most bloody criminal in Moscow on such a day,” Sinha said.
However, because India has maintained normal bilateral relations with Russia, Sinha said that he feels his country is uniquely poised to bring forward some kind of “rapprochement” or to encourage dialogue between Russia and the Ukraine.
“The world is highly polarized. We’re talking about a new Cold War, right? There is no high-level contact between the West and Russia at all,” he said, noting that virtually all Western leaders have avoided visiting Russia since the start of the conflict.
One recent exception was Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s visit to Moscow earlier this summer, he said.
On July 1, Hungary took on the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, and Orban embarked on a “peace mission,” visiting both Russia and the Ukraine. However, his Moscow visit sparked backlash from Ukraine’s government and from other EU leaders, who accused him of abusing the EU presidency.
That Modi would undertake the exceptionally long journey from India to Ukraine for the short visit was significant in itself, he said. “A 20-hour journey for a seven-hour visit is quite something, especially for a head of the government.”
A Resolution Is in India’s Interest
One analyst told The Epoch Times that in engaging with both Russia and Ukraine, India is suggesting a new model for conflict resolution, to end a war that is not in India’s best interest.Pathikrit Payne, a senior research fellow at the New Delhi-based Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation, told The Epoch Times that the timing of Modi’s visit to Kyiv, just weeks after his trip to Moscow, is significant. The fact that Modi was accompanied by Jaishankar and Doval was another indication of the serious nature of the visit, he said.
“Modi is demonstrating a new template of conflict resolution wherein one needs to respect and show empathy with both the warring parties before asking them to sit, talk and stop the war,” Payne said.
While he was in Moscow, Modi spoke of the killing of children amid the conflict, without pointing a finger directly at Putin.
“When innocent children are killed, when we see innocent children dying, it is heart-wrenching and that pain is immense,” the Indian prime minister said.
Payne also highlighted that from a pragmatic standpoint, ending the Ukraine conflict is in India’s best interest. India has a defense manufacturing relationship with Russia, and historically, it has had a similar defense relationship with Ukraine. The Ukraine war has impacted all branches of the Indian military, although India’s military has attempted to fill the gap with domestic suppliers.
“Ukraine has been a critical player in India’s defense supply chain. ... The Russian warships that India procures traditionally always have had Ukrainian engines. Ensuring [that] Ukraine set up a joint venture in India to manufacture gas turbines is very crucial for [the] Indian Navy,”Payne said.
According to Payne, the Indian Air Force’s fleet of over 100 AN-32 medium transport aircraft, procured from the former Soviet Union, were all manufactured in Ukraine.
India finalized a deal with Ukraine in 2009 to upgrade the entire fleet. However, it has been delayed due to the ongoing conflict, Payne said. “The visit by [Prime Minister] Modi is also to ensure such issues get sorted out,” he said.
Potential Benefits for Other Countries
The Indian prime minister visited Poland from Aug. 21 to 22, before heading to Ukraine. At a joint press conference with Modi in Warsaw, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that Modi could play an important role in resolving the Ukraine conflict.“We began by discussing some very emotional issues. [Prime Minister] Modi confirmed his readiness for a peaceful, rightful, and immediate end to the war. We believe that India can play an essential and very constructive role, making this announcement highly important for us,” Tusk said.
Sinha said that Ukraine’s northwestern neighbor, like India, has “nothing to gain” from the Ukraine–Russia conflict.
Poland shares 329 miles of border with Ukraine and feels the direct impact of the conflict as refugees pour in. There is an extra financial strain as well, because transport links have been disrupted, the former Indian diplomat said.
“So the Polish economy also must be very badly hit, and they would be keen to have some kind of mediation, which can at least lead to the start of [talks],” said Sinha.
“There are not so many people in the world who can step forward and say, ‘Look, I’m here to try and help out.’ And India and India’s Prime Minister happen to be in that position. ... I think Poland [wants to] see if something can be done to at least get the two sides, if not talking directly, [then] indirectly.”According to Payne, conflict resolution is also important to countries in the south that are economically hit by the conflict.
“Cessation of conflict is also very important for global south countries, since disruptions in global supply chains as a result of conflicts and unilateral sanctions impact developing countries more than anyone else. India as [a] voice of [the] global south, is ensuring at least some efforts are made towards that direction,” he said.
At a press conference after Modi’s visit, Zelenskyy said he would “very much” welcome a peace summit orchestrated by Modi, but there are certain things that are non-negotiable: “We don’t change our people to any propositions, and our territories, and our values, and our freedom and democracy. We will not change.”
