Ukraine Wants India To Play More Active Role To End Russia’s War

(Bloomberg) -- India should play a more active role in ending Russia's war in Ukraine if it wants to win a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, Ukraine's ambassador in New Delhi said.

Ukraine wants India to “moderate” talks between the two warring nations and use its ties with Russia to convince Moscow to join peace talks, Oleksandr Polishchuk said Tuesday. Ukraine has proposed India hold a peace summit before November 2024 aimed at ending the conflict, but it's not clear yet if New Delhi will agree, he said.

“If India is aiming for permanent seat in the United Nation's Security Council to serve its own interest, it is setting the bar too low,” Polishchuck said.

India is reliant on Russia for military weapons and cheap oil, and has refrained from condemning Vladimir Putin for his invasion of Ukraine two years ago. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who visited Kyiv in August for the first time since the conflict broke out, has consistently advocated diplomacy and dialog to end the war. 

New Delhi has agreed to relay messages between Putin and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, but is reluctant to play a more active. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India's foreign minister, echoed those sentiments on Tuesday in Germany, without saying whether India would hold a peace summit.

“For us, this is not about a process or about being seen to do something,” he said. “What is important for us is the reality of the conflict that is taking place today.”

India's active participation to end the war has gained urgency as Russia targets power distribution facilities including those close to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and hydro-electric plants as winter sets in. Ukrainian forces continue to hold and strengthen positions in the Kursk region of Russia.

India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval is in Moscow this week and is expected meet senior Russian officials including Putin on the sidelines of the BRICS meeting of national security advisers. Modi had spoken to Putin soon after his August Kyiv visit and his phone conversation with US President Joe Biden.

India should not be content playing “postman passing messages between Ukraine and Russia” but play a more “robust role,” said Polishchuk.