Ajit Doval will visit Moscow as PM Modi tries to broker Russia-Ukraine peace
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New Delhi: As the Russia-Ukraine war continues, India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval will travel to Russian capital Moscow this week in what could be called an attempt at resolving the long-drawn conflict, according to NDTV.
Ajit Doval’s visit gathers importance as it comes weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited both the warring countries, meeting their state heads: Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky.
Shortly after returning from meeting President Zelensky, PM Modi held a telephone conversation with Russian president Putin on August 27, expressing Indian’s commitment for peace through ‘political and diplomatic means’.
It is reported citing sources that during this talk leaders agreed that Doval would carry out peace talks, traveling to Moscow.
The Russian Embassy stated that Putin pointed out ‘the destructive policies of the Kiev authorities’, alongside highlighting ‘Russia's approaches to resolving this conflict.’
The Prime Minister's Office said PM Modi ‘underlined the importance of dialogue and diplomacy’ alongside ‘sincere and practical engagement’ for the peaceful resolution of the conflict.
During his meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky last month, PM Modi said ‘India was never neutral’, adding that the country has always on ‘the side of peace’.
President Putin named India among the three countries he has been in touch with just as the conflict continues, while others in the list are China and Brazil.
Putin said he believed that his ‘friends and partners’, primarily China, Brazil and India, ‘sincerely seek to resolve all issues surrounding this conflict’.
Meanwhile, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday said that China and India could play a role to resolving the conflict.
The war continues amid the West’s sanctions against Russia with most global powers taking sides.
However, India continues to call for peaceful resolution with Prime Minister Modi famously saying that ‘this is not an era of war’.