India Joins Peace Summit on Russia-Ukraine Conflict, Advocates Dialogue and Diplomacy

New Delhi is expected to pitch “dialogue and diplomacy” as the only way forward to arrive at a resolution of the conflict that has now dragged on for more than two years. India has close ties with both Russia and Ukraine and has declared that it would “continue to do everything within its means to support a peaceful solution.”
India had announced earlier this week that it would participate in the conference which is backed by the West. Russia has not been invited and China has decided to stay away.

However, India’s decision to attend the conference, albeit at a senior level instead of the top level, indicates New Delhi’s desire to contribute to a solution to the conflict that has consumed thousands of lives on both sides besides bring tremendous destruction to Ukraine after Russia launched a military offensive in February 2022.
This comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Friday met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Italy, during which he said: “India believes in a human-centric approach and continues to encourage peaceful resolution of the (Russia-Ukraine) conflict through dialogue and diplomacy, and reiterated that India would continue to do everything within its means to support a peaceful solution”.

Both leaders had also discussed the agenda of the Peace Summit, with President Zelenskyy thanking PM Modi for the “expected presence of the (Indian) high-level delegation at the event”.

Modi had said after the meeting, “India is eager to further cement bilateral relations with Ukraine. Regarding the ongoing hostilities, reiterated that India believes in a human-centric approach and believes that the way forward is through dialogue and diplomacy.”