New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today conveyed to Russian President Vladimir Putin that India believes in peaceful solutions to conflicts, referring to the Russia-Ukraine issue. Both leaders met, and hugged each other, on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit today.
The summit of the informal group of states comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) is being held in Russia’s Kazan.
PM Modi congratulated the success of the BRICS grouping over the fact that many other nations want to join it.
“We have been in touch with all sides in the Russia-Ukraine problem. It has always been our position that all conflict can be solved with dialogue. We believe there should be peaceful solutions to conflicts. India is always ready to help bring peace,” PM Modi said.
There will be a ‘Kazan Declaration’ at the end of the summit, when five new BRICS members will be formally added.
The BRICS Summit visit is PM Modi’s second visit to Russia this year. He had been to Moscow in July to attend the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit where he held a bilateral meeting with Mr Putin. He was also conferred with Russia’s highest civilian award, the Order of St Andrew the Apostle at the Kremlin.
India and Russia share a ‘special and privileged strategic partnership’.
“Russian-Indian relations have the character of a particularly privileged strategic partnership and continue to actively develop,” Mr Putin told PM Modi.
India is also a big customer of Russian oil, much to the West’s chagrin. The US and its western allies have been supporting Ukraine and working to hurt Russia in trade. India has said it will buy oil from anywhere it gets a good deal, which will benefit the citizens of India.
Russia has touted the BRICS Summit as a diplomatic triumph that shows Western attempts to isolate Moscow over the Ukraine conflict have failed.
The US has dismissed the idea that BRICS could become a “geopolitical rival” but has expressed concern over Moscow flexing its diplomatic muscle as the Ukraine conflict rages.
Moscow has steadily advanced on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine this year while strengthening ties with China, Iran and North Korea — three of Washington’s adversaries. By gathering BRICS leaders in Kazan, the Kremlin “aims to show that not only is Russia not isolated, it has partners and allies,” Moscow-based political analyst Konstantin Kalachev told news agency AFP.
This time, the Kremlin wants to show an “alternative to Western pressure and that the multipolar world is a reality,” Mr Kalachev said, referring to Moscow’s efforts to shift power away from western nations.
