National Security Adviser Ajit Doval will be travelling to Russia this week against the backdrop of calls for India’s possible role in finding a solution to the Ukraine conflict following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visits to Moscow and Kyiv.
Doval is visiting Moscow on September 10-11 primarily to attend a conclave of national security advisers of the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) grouping that is taking place amid a renewed push for peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv to end the conflict.
The NSA’s visit to Russia comes after Prime Minister Modi’s high-profile trip to Moscow and Kyiv in July and August, respectively. PM Modi is also scheduled to go to Kazan, Russia, in October for the BRICS top leaders’ summit.
Doval is expected to lay the groundwork for further mediation to end the conflict. India would wait for a signal from both Russia and Ukraine in this connection. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in an interaction with Indian media in Kyiv on August 23, had said he wanted India to be on its side and “not just balance ties between Moscow and Ukraine”.
Modi at his meeting with Zelenskyy had said both Ukraine and Russia should sit together without wasting time to end the ongoing war and that India was ready to play an “active role” in restoring peace in the region. Modi had assured the Ukrainian President that India was “never a neutral bystander” in the conflict but always “stood by the side of peace”.
Doval during his visit to Russia is expected to hold talks with his Russian counterpart and is likely to discuss ways to bring peace to the region. Yesterday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, following her talks with Zelenskyy, had said India and China could play a role in finding a solution to the dragging conflict.
This was the second such call from major nation for India to mediate after Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at a panel discussion at the Eastern Economic Forum in the Russian city of Vladivostok on Thursday, named India, Brazil and China as possible intermediaries that could play a role in resolving the conflict
“First of all, it is the People’s Republic of China, Brazil and India — I am in contact with my partners and I have no doubt that the leaders of these countries, and we have relations of trust and confidence with one another, will be really interested and provide a helping hand,” Putin said. His remarks came in response to a question on possible countries that could act as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine.
