National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met Russian NSA Sergei Shoigu in St. Petersburg as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s emissary. During this, both of them brainstormed on finding a solution to the ongoing war with Ukraine. NSA Doval also told Russia about India’s possible role. The Doval-Shoigu meeting took place on Wednesday evening during the conference of National Security Advisors of BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) countries.
Earlier, the two NSAs also discussed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev on August 23. The Indian Embassy in Russia said on the talks between Doval and Shoigu, “The two sides reviewed the progress in bilateral cooperation and discussed important issues of mutual interest.”
Doval’s visit to Russia comes two and a half weeks after Prime Minister Modi’s high-profile visit to Ukraine. In his meeting with Zelensky, PM Modi had said that Ukraine and Russia should sit together without wasting time and end the ongoing war and India is ready to play an active role in restoring peace in the region.
The Prime Minister said that India has been in favour of peace since the beginning of the war and he would also like to personally contribute to a peaceful resolution of this crisis. PM Modi stayed in Ukraine for about nine hours. This was the first visit of an Indian Prime Minister since independence in 1991.
In the last few days, there have been calls for India’s possible role in advancing peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. India has good relations with both countries. Last Saturday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said after her talks with Zelensky that India and China could play a role in finding a solution to the raging conflict.
Russian President Putin also recently nominated India, Brazil and China as potential mediators. He said, “China, Brazil and India are countries with which I am constantly in contact and I have no doubt that the leaders of these countries will be really interested and will help in this direction.” Putin said this when he was asked which countries could act as mediators between Russia and Ukraine.
Let us tell you that since the beginning of the war, India has been saying that the conflict in Ukraine should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.