When External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited Ukraine on September 3, three days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Bishkek on August 31, discerning policy watchers noticed something curious. Modi, in his interaction with Putin, had called for a shift from “endless war” to the “end of the war”. Images of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha listening intently to Jaishankar’s presentation suggested India had moved beyond interesting one-liners to more substantive peace formulations. We now have Sybiha on record saying that New Delhi indeed put forward a “comprehensive” and “broad” proposal to end the war. Besides India, Ukraine has received proposals for resolving the conflict from Türkiye, Egypt and the US. But Sybiha rated the Indian suggestion the best of the lot. “We have four proposals. The most comprehensive is India’s. For the first time, India has signalled its willingness to play a role,” he said.
Sybiha’s revelation came hours after Putin, delivering his annual foreign policy speech at the Valdai Discussion Club, spoke glowingly about Modi constantly flagging the conflict in their mutual interactions and having “very good ideas” to end it. “The Prime Minister takes a neutral position… I think it’s my duty to say that directly. We are thankful for his desire to put an end to this conflict through peaceful means and as soon as possible,” Putin remarked.
With both Kyiv and Moscow appearing keen on letting India take the lead, the situation may be ripe for the land of Gandhi to bring the sides to the negotiating table. Ukraine has already said it is ready to consider a truce covering attacks on energy infrastructure and in the Black Sea. It is also open to discussing an unconditional ceasefire along the line of contact on the warfront. Zelenskyy had earlier indicated he would be ready for talks with Putin at the G20 summit in the US on December 14-15.
Resolving the Ukraine conflict could be a low-hanging fruit compared to the US-Iran war, since both sides want an honest broker, not a self-serving bully. High diplomacy appears to be around the corner. If the PM pulls it off, it could substantially ease the global food and energy crises. Whatever the outcome, there is no harm in trying.
