After visiting the war-torn nation of Ukraine on Tuesday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi informed Russian President Vladimir Putin that he is in favor of an early conclusion to the grueling battle there.
In order to protect India from its regional adversary China, 73-year-old Modi has tread carefully in preserving India’s long-standing close ties with Russia while also pursuing stronger security alliances with Western countries.
Instead of directly denouncing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, New Delhi has urged communication between the two parties to settle their issues.
In a social media post, Modi claimed to have “exchanged perspectives on the Russia-Ukraine conflict” with Putin and to have offered “my insights from the recent visit to Ukraine”.He said he had “reiterated India’s firm commitment to support an early, abiding and peaceful resolution of the conflict”.
Modi, who angered Ukrainians by hugging Putin in Moscow recently, visited Kyiv on Friday and told President Volodymyr Zelensky that “no problem should be solved on the battlefield.”
His conversation with Putin occurs one day after Modi spoke with US President Joe Biden, during which he reaffirmed New Delhi’s “consistent position in favor of dialogue and diplomacy,” according to a statement from the Indian foreign ministry.
Since the end of the Cold War, when the Kremlin became India’s principal armaments supplier, the two countries have maintained tight ties.
Since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, Russia has also grown to be a significant supplier of cheap crude oil to India, giving the country a much-needed export market following the introduction of Western sanctions.
That has dramatically reconfigured their economic ties, with India saving billions of dollars while bolstering Moscow’s war coffers.
India is part of the Quad grouping, with the United States, Japan and Australia, that positions itself against China’s growing influence in the Asia-Pacific region.As a result, their economic relations have drastically changed, saving India billions of dollars while increasing Moscow’s war reserves.
Along with the US, Japan, and Australia, India forms the Quad alliance, which stands in opposition to China’s expanding sway over the Asia-Pacific area.
