In the midst of hectic diplomacy to bring an end to the Ukraine war, EAM S Jaishankar met Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday. The meeting came after the talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky.
EAM Jaishankar posted his reaction on X after his meeting at the Russian Mission, " Discussed our bilateral cooperation and regional issues."
Referring to the dialogue between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump at the Chequers G7 Summit, Jaishankar on Tuesday evening hinted that India was exploring if it could drag both countries into a peace process.
We have been engaging both the Russian government and the Ukrainian government -- in Moscow and in Kyiv and in other places -- to see whether there is something we can do which would hasten the end of the conflict and initiate some kind of serious negotiation," he said at the Asia Society.
The diplomat added that India was "sharing" with both countries the conversations it held with them, and his sense is that "both sides appreciate it."
New Delhi, which has historically had close diplomatic and strategic ties with Moscow, is forging an independent path open to the West giving it room to be a conduit between the two countries for peace diplomacy.
Mentioning the meeting with PM Modi, Zelensky said in his Wednesday morning address to the General Assembly that he had invited India on Tuesday at the Security Council for a "second peace summit to end the war."
In the statement, issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, the way forward on pursuing a path to peace "came up quite prominently in their discussions" at their second meeting in a month on Monday.
The Ministry said that PM Modi reiterated the "clear, consistent, and constructive approach of India" for ending the conflict with Russia through dialogue and diplomacy.
When he was in Ukraine last month, PM Modi said, "Personally, as a friend, if there is any role that I can play, I would very much like to play that role toward peace."
After returning back home, PM Modi talked over phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin and on the social media platform X that they "exchanged perspectives on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and my insights from the recent visit to Ukraine."
India followed that up with a visit two weeks ago by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval to meet Putin and reportedly brief him on Prime Minister Modi's visit to Kyiv.
A month before his visit to Ukraine, PM Modi visited Moscow to see Putin.
While India, that is totally dependent on Moscow for defence materials, continues to buy oil and petroleum products from Russia, the news agency Reuters said in an investigation that munitions made by Indian companies were finding their way to Ukraine through third countries in Europe.
Read also| Zelenskyy Confirms India Has Been Invited to Second Peace Summit for Ukraine Conflict
