Modi Has Shown Fine Diplomatic Acumen In Dealing With Zelenskiy

By Sushil Kutty

So India is a “big country” with a “big influence” on the Russian economy and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy 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, Zelenskiy doesn’t like Modi’s crude oil deals with President Vladimir Putin.

President Zelenskiy 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 Zelenskiy 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 Russia-Ukraine War.

President Zelenskiy 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 Zelenskiy that he will personally intervene to bring peace between Ukraine and Russia. Modi won across the spectrum praise for his offer and the notoriously famous ‘Godi Media’ couldn’t stop celebrating Modi’s international success.

Of course, Modi also embraced Zelenskiy. The question coalesces to will Russian President Vladimir Putin give Modi the chance to broker peace? Diplomacy is not the break one can expect from President Vlaidmir Putin and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who isn’t a Modi fan like President Vladimir Putin is.

Modi’s warm hug to Putin in July was criticised by Zelenskiy, 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. Whether Modi remembered or not, to expect Zelenskiy to forget and forgive on Modi’s bidding is a little too rich.

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 Zelenskiy 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 Zelenskiy following recent happenings on the battlefield. The 40-killed  in Russian strikes on Ukraine on the day Modi hugged Putin in Moscow. The strike on the Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv.

On Friday, Modi said he was overwhelmed with “grief” when he placed a “soft toy” at the shrine for the children. Also, an image of Modi, with his arm around Zelenskiy’s shoulder, found its way to Modi’s social media with the message that his heart went out to the families of the children killed in the Russian strike. It was after this that Modi offered to “personally initiate peace talks” between Russia and Ukraine. As expected Indian media reacted with “Modi’s dialogue and diplomacy would end the fighting.”

Modi’s big talk included the emphasis on “we have never been neutral in the war, right from the first day our side was Peace.” And, of course, the well-beaten – “we are from the land of Mahatma Gandhi.” How many times has this horse been flogged to death? Modi is not the first Indian leader to mouth this inanity, and he won’t be the last!

Modi, however, hasn’t so far – not once – condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In fact, Modi made sure “Moscow’s war economy” was kept well-oiled! Which media favourable to Modi hasn’t applauded New Delhi for becoming the biggest importer of Russian oil? Modi’s middle finger to Western sanctions on Russia is the stuff of Russian legend.

On August 23, Prime Minister Modi and President Zelenskiy discussed Ukraine’s latest incursion into Russian territory. The exact conversation is not available, but India was at the Ukraine-led peace summit in Switzerland in June this year, where Russia was not there. In Kyiv on Friday, Zelenskiy and Modi gave a joint call for “sovereignty and territorial integrity” of all countries. The world has appreciated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s offer to mediate and bring about permanent peace between Russia and Ukraine. Will Modi get the chance he craves for? (IPA Service)