Ukraine Second Peace Summit In India? – OpEd
President Volodymyr Zelensky is in favour of holding the second Peace Summit in a country of the Global South, and has offered to hold it in India. “I absolutely support and have shared the idea with Prime Minister Modi, to hold the Global Peace Summit in India. It is a great country, a great democracy”. (Zelensky in an interview with Indian media). He has also stated that negotiations were ongoing with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Switzerland regarding holding of the second summit on peace.
President Zelensky has laid a term of reference that any country that would agree to host the Summit has to join the Summit by signing the communique of the Switzerland Ukraine Peace Conference as a precondition for hosting a second summit on peace. India did not sign the Summit communiqué having attended the Switzerland Ukraine first peace summit. This condition can likely be set aside if India can persuade China and Russia to attend if it decides to host the second Peace Summit. Zelensky said that he had discussed with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi all the issues of the communiqué of the first Peace Summit and all the issues that were discussed there.
The big Question is will India be willing to host? In my view India must take this opportunity to show to the world that India a peace-loving nation can be a world “Peace Maker”. However, this opportunity should be taken as a challenge to India’s commitment to brokering peace between Russia and Ukraine.
Russia had been excluded from the first summit, but Ukraine said it hoped Moscow could be involved in a second round of talks. “If Russian representatives want to attend the second summit, they will attend,” said President Zelensky.
China Critical India’s “Yoga Diplomacy”
By shuttling between both Russia and Ukraine, Prime Minister Modi may be hoping to use “Yoga Diplomacy” to show India’s flexibility in bridging the gap between conflicting parties. In recent years, India has been flaunting its “Yoga Diplomacy,” the term media outlets have used to describe the approach New Delhi is taking to assert its rising global influence by bringing nations together and bridging gaps.
China became the first co-sponsor for the Indian proposal to agree to have the world Yoga Day declared. But China is now very critical of the so-called India’s “Yoga Diplomacy” and will not like
India and Prime Minister Modi to succeed in this initiative although India and Prime Minister Modi are acceptable to both Russia and Ukraine. China further goes on to say, “Strength is what New Delhi lacks in making “Yoga Diplomacy” successful.Does India have the strength to bring both sides to the negotiating table and offer a cease-fire proposal that satisfies both sides?” (Global Times a CCP’s flagship newspaper).
India : Peace Hope in Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Prime Minister Modi on return from his Ukraine visit spoke to US President Joe Biden and Russian President Putin to exchange notes on ending the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. “Modi underlined the importance of dialogue and diplomacy as well as sincere and practical engagement between all stakeholders to achieve an abiding and peaceful resolution of the conflict”. Biden commended Modi for his “historic’’ trip and his message of peace.
Modi is now expected to visit the US from September 21 to 25, when the UN General Assembly session is on in New York and he will be back in Russia in October to participate in the BRICS summit which Putin is hosting as the BRICS Chair.
Russian President Putin has blamed Ukraine and its “western friends” for what he termed “destructive policies”. The Russian side indicated that India was keen on getting the conflict resolved. “Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk means there will be no talks between Moscow and Kiev until Ukraine is completely defeated on the battlefield,” said Dmitry Medvedev.
Modi called for a sincere and practical engagement between all stakeholders for an early, abiding and peaceful resolution of the conflict. Modi has called for a sincere and practical engagement to “develop innovative solutions that will have broad acceptability’. Modi in a post on X; “Reiterated India’s firm commitment to support an early, abiding and peaceful resolution of the conflict.” PM Modi’s attempt at balancing India’s relations with the US, Russia and Ukraine have drawn the world’s attention.
In the face of various international and regional hot spots and issues, the “World War III is around the corner signals” are being sounded at regular intervals along with nuclear threats. These regional hot spots are worrying people about the turbulent situation around the world and are looking forward for peaceful resolutions to the conflicts.
The back-and-forth diplomacy between India-US and India-Russia in the last few days sees a ray of hope that India may host the Second Ukraine Peace Summit and be able to initiate a diplomatic dialogue between Russia and Ukraine. India is uniquely placed to become a mediator, because it is the only major country that shares good ties with both Russia- Ukraine and the West. No one other than India, at this critical stage of the war can play the role better of a peacemaker of course by teaming up along with the UN and all stake holders. For this Indian peace initiative to succeed UN needs to play its role of a catalyst “Peace Maker.”
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