Ukraine wants India to play a more active role in ending war in Russia – Times of India

India should play a more active role in ending Russia’s war in Ukraine if it wants to secure a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, Ukraine’s ambassador to New Delhi has said.
Ukraine wants India to “moderate” talks between the two warring countries and use its ties with Russia to convince Moscow to join the peace talks, Oleksandr Polishchuk said on Tuesday. Ukraine has proposed that India hold a peace summit before November 2024 to end the conflict, but it is not yet clear whether New Delhi will agree, he said.
“If India is seeking a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council to serve its own interests, it is setting the bar too low,” Polishchuck said.
India is dependent 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 Kiev in August for the first time since the conflict broke out, has consistently advocated diplomacy and dialogue to end the war.
New Delhi has agreed to relay messages between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but has been reluctant to play a more active role. India’s foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, echoed those sentiments in Germany on Tuesday, without saying whether India would hold a peace summit.
“For us, it’s not about a process or being seen as doing something,” he said. “What’s important for us is the reality of the conflict that’s happening today.”
India’s active participation in ending the war has become more urgent as Russia attacks energy distribution facilities, including those near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and hydroelectric dams, as winter sets in. Ukrainian forces continue to occupy and fortify positions in Russia’s Kursk region.
National Security Adviser Ajit Doval is in Moscow this week and is expected to meet senior Russian officials, including Putin, on the sidelines of the BRICS meeting of national security advisers. Modi had spoken to Putin shortly after his visit to Kiev in August and his phone call with US President Joe Biden.
India should not be content with playing “a postman carrying messages between Ukraine and Russia” but should play a “more robust role,” Polishchuk said.