SO India is a “big country” with a“big influence” on the Russian economy and Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy wants India and Indians to “change their attitude” towards Russia. For then, there will be peace as Russian President Vladimir Putin will then end the war. Apparently, Zelenskyy doesn’t like Modi’s crude oil deals with President Vladimir Putin. President Zelenskyy does not like India’s“record breaking” deals for oil from Russia. India’s energy purchases from Russia figured in the discussions and Zelenskiy was told about the energy market scenario and the need for prices to remain “reasonable and stable”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Ukraine visit came a month after he went to Moscow and lots of people were upset when he and Putin shared a warm embrace. Also, the same day a number of Ukrainian targets were hit by Russian strikes including a children’s hospital in Kyiv. To cap it all, India overtook China as the biggest importer of Russian crude oil on that very day. Also, to date, India hasn’t condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

 

There are questions galore: Does India favour Russia over Ukraine? Did Modi find it difficult to convince President Zelenskyy that India was non-aligned? Did Prime Minister Modi envisage a ‘personal role’ for himself in the ‘pursuit of peace’. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit was “historic” as he was the first Indian Prime Minister since 1992 to visit Ukraine. Modi started his tour of two countries from Poland, from where he took a special train to Kyiv, where he met members of the Indian community and was taken to a multimedia exposition on children who had lost their lives in the ongoing RussiaUkraine War. President Zelenskyy was by Modi’s side when Prime Minister Narendra Modi placed a “soft toy” at the shrine to the children killed in the war so far. Perhaps Ukraine did not want Modi to forget, or forgive. Modi also met Ukrainian students studying Hindi in Kyiv and he paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi by bowing to a statue of Bapu in Kyiv. Modi apparently told President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that he will personally intervene to bring peace between Ukraine and Russia. Of course, Modi also embraced Zelenskyy.

 

The question coalesces to will Russian PresidentVladimir Putin give Modi the chance to broker peace? Diplomacy is not the break one can expect from PresidentVlaidmir Putin and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who isn’t a Modi fan like President Vladimir Putin is. Modi’s warm hug to Putin in July was criticised by Zelenskyy, who at the time was swearing vengeance on Moscow for a series of deadly Russian strikes on Ukrainian targets, including one on Kyiv’s biggest children’s hospital. Modi has told President Putin a couple of times that today’s era was of no wars and Putin should embrace peace; that the battlefield is no place for friends. “Both sides will have to sit together and look for ways to come out of this crisis,” Modi told Zelenskiy on Friday. Prime Minister Modi was also the “first international leader to visit since Ukrainian forces crossed into Russia’s Kursk region.” Ukraine grabbed more than 1,250 sq km of Russian territory and Prime Minister Narendra Modi expects Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy to talk peace. Friday, the optics from Kyiv weren’t all that encouraging for brokering peace; the “smiles were few and far between”. The awkward hug between the two leaders went unnoticed by the Indian contingent as also the diplomatic tightrope for both Modi and Zelenskyy following recent happenings on the battlefield. The 40-killed in Russian strikes onUkraine on the day Modi hugged Putinin Moscow.

 

The strike on the OkhmatdytChildren’s Hospital in Kyiv. On Friday, Modi said he was overwhelmed with “grief” when he placeda “soft toy” at the shrine for the children. Also, an image of Modi, with hisarm around Zelenskyy’s shoulder, foundits way to Modi’s social media with themessage that his heart went out to thefamilies of the children killed in theRussian strike. It was after this that Modi offered to “personally initiate peacetalks” between Russia and Ukraine. Asexpected Indian media reacted with“Modi’s dialogue and diplomacy wouldend the fighting.” On August 23, Prime Minister Modi and President Zelenskyy discussedUkraine’s latest incursion into Russianterritory. The exact conversation is not available, but India was at the Ukraineled peace summit in Switzerland in Junethis year, where Russia was not there. In Kyiv on Friday, Zelenskyy and Modi gave a joint call for “sovereignty and territorial integrity” of all countries. Theworld has appreciated Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s offer to mediate andbring about permanent peace betweenRussia and Ukraine. Will Modi get thechance he craves for?