NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention prevented Russia from taking nuclear action during the 2022 conflict with Ukraine, according to CNN reports,
The report said two senior officials told CNN that in late 2022, the US started "preparing rigorously" for a potential nuclear strike by Moscow against Kyiv as the Biden administration was concerned that Russia might use a tactical or battlefield nuclear weapon.
"Had it not been for PM Modi, Russia may have launched a nuclear attack on Ukraine, according to some senior officials. Russia had reportedly begun to rigorously prepare for a possible nuclear strike against Kyiv in 2022,’’ the report says.
Had it happened the impact would have been catastrophic and it would have been the first nuclear attack since the US dropped atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
"Earnest efforts by PM Modi and other nations were crucial in preventing this disaster. The Biden administration reached out to leaders like PM Modi who Russian President Vladimir Putin would have heard attentively,’’ the report add.
The outreach and statements made by PM Modi certainly helped averting the disaster. India, as a reminder, expressed its stance that the current time is not suitable for engaging in war.
Furthermore, India encouraged both Russia and Ukraine to seek resolution for their conflicts through peaceful discussions and diplomatic means.
In fact, PM Modi’s statement that this is no era for war was also used in the Bali Leaders statement after the G20 Summit concluded there in 2022.
PM Modi has through various international platforms propagated peace and denounced the death of civilians in the conflict.