NEW DELHI: India has been actively engaging both Russia and Ukraine in efforts to help bring about an end to the ongoing conflict, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar said on Tuesday. His comments followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third meeting in four months with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“We believe that wars are not the way to settle disputes. We don’t believe that a solution is going to come from the battlefield,” Jaishankar remarked during an event in New York, titled *India, Asia, and the World*, hosted by the Asia Society and the Asia Society Policy Institute.
Jaishankar emphasized that while negotiations are inevitable, they must involve both parties and cannot be one-sided. “We think at some point there will be a negotiation, and such a negotiation has to obviously include the parties. It cannot be a one-sided negotiation,” he explained.
India, he revealed, has been holding discussions with both the Russian and Ukrainian governments to see if there is any role it can play in hastening the end of the war and initiating serious negotiations. Jaishankar underscored that while India does not have a formal peace plan, it is facilitating conversations and sharing insights from its engagements with both sides. “My sense is both sides appreciate it,” he added.
India’s diplomatic efforts align with its broader stance on the conflict, advocating for dialogue and a peaceful resolution rather than a military solution.
