Whether or not Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s peace mission to Ukraine succeeds in setting the stage for eventually ending the over two-year-old war, there can be no denying the significance of the visit. Last week Modi undertook the journey from Poland, Ukraine’s immediate neighbour and a strong supporter of its war effort against Russia, to Kyiv, to dispel a few misunderstandings and clarify the situation vis-à-vis Russia, the aggressor. Though India did not join the western bloc to condemn the Russian aggression, its refusal to vote on the UN resolution did not in any way signify its approval of Vladimir Putin’s expansionist war. Not at all. Modi repeatedly proclaimed that war was not a solution to any of the world’s problems. In fact, he said this directly to Putin when he visited Moscow last July. The western bloc was not happy with that visit. Indeed, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not hide his displeasure, saying he was upset. The picture of the Modi-Putin embrace in Moscow seemed to rile him the most, especially on the day Russia attacked a children’s hospital in Kyiv. Many in the West echoed that sentiment. But India had steered clear of the two-bloc foreign policy all along, choosing to carve out its own independent path. Being non-aligned all through the Cold War did not mean that India would abandon that independent stand and join the western bloc merely because the former Soviet Union had disintegrated into several independent nations, often hostile towards Moscow.
The fall of the Soviet Union and the steady but certain rise of China as another pole of military and economic power validated India’s independent foreign policy. It allows her to import huge quantities of much-needed crude oil from the US-sanctioned Russia while it openly teams up with the US and other western nations in strategic security partnership such as the four-member Quad which has beside it has the US, Japan and Australia as members. The formation of a common platform for upholding a rule-based global order and to protect freedom of navigation and democratic order may have discomfited China but India’s intention was to uphold the UN Charter and resist any attempt to change national territorial and maritime boundaries with the use of force. In case of the Russian invasion against Ukraine, India has never shied away from stating that it did not approve of the aggression. Last Friday in Kyiv, Modi reassured Zelenskyy that `a solution cannot be found on the battlefield… the road to resolution can only be found through dialogue and diplomacy… and we should move in that direction without wasting any time… both sides should sit together to find a way out of this crisis…” The fact that despite over two years of unremitting aggression in which both sides are said to have lost tens of thousands of soldiers, including thousands of civilians, Russia seems nowhere near achieving its war objective. It controls more Ukrainian territory now after grabbing Crimea in 2014. But earlier this month Ukraine caught Putin napping when its forces annexed a large area in the Kursk region in western Russia. It was a big blow to Putin’s maniac pride. He may yet push more and more reluctant men into the war which not many Russians want.
With PM’s Ukraine Visit, India Continues Diplomatic Rebalancing Moves
But so long as the US-led western bloc keeps supplying Ukraine modern weapons, and strategic assistance Ukraine will continue to find men and women to repulse the Russian aggression. It is here that the good offices of India can come in handy should Putin come down from his high horse and agree to cease armed action in order for the well-meaning intermediaries like India to help bring about a negotiated end to hostilities. Ultimately, the two sides will have to agree to a ceasefire before any negotiated solution can be found. By reaching out to Zelenskyy last week Modi may have further burnished India’s credentials as a votary of peace. Russia cannot keep throwing in able-bodied men and women in a war which it cannot win while Ukraine thanks to the generous flow of arms and ammunition from the West remains committed to defend its territory. Last week’s surprise incursion tens of miles inside Russian territory in the Kursk region by a much smaller Ukrainian army would further undermine the morale of the Russian forces. Ordinary men and women on the Moscow street increasingly disapprove of a war which has no clear objective aside from Putin’s paranoia about NATO expanding its eastward march. Russian war machine is stretched to the limit, and it is finding hard to locate able-bodied men and women ready to plunge willingly into the battlefield, especially without much advance training and preparation. Scores of Indians ever eager for foreign jobs were recruited by thuggish agents on false pretences. They were horrified to find themselves pushed into the Russian war against Ukraine. Russian autocrat’s false pride alone has dragged the war for over two years. The solution cannot come unless Putin sees sense. Whether or not Trump returns as US President, it is highly unlikely the West will fail Zelenskyy after having supported him to the hilt for over two years. In short, despite Modi offering his good offices there seems no light at the end of the Ukraine-Russia tunnel.
Russia-Ukraine Crisis: Russian missile damages Children’s hospital in Mariupol
