National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Thursday met Russian President Vladimir Putin in a bid to find a solution to the latter’s ongoing conflict with Ukraine. The meeting was held on the sidelines of a conclave of national security advisors of the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) nations at the Konstantinovsky Palace in St Petersburg.
During the meeting, Putin proposed to hold a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 22 in Kazan on the sidelines of the BRICS summit next month. This meeting is aimed at summarising and analysing the outcomes of the joint work on the implementation of various agreements that were reached during PM Modi’s Moscow visit and to also discuss future prospects. “We are waiting for our good friend Modi and best regards to him,” the Russian media quoted Putin as saying in the meeting with Doval.
In turn, Doval conveyed PM Modi’s words of gratitude to Putin and informed him about the PM’s readiness to share details from his recent visit to Ukraine, Embassy of India in Russia said.
The NSA on Wednesday also held wide-ranging talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu to discuss important issues of mutual interests. “It is understood that Modi’s talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on August 23 figured in the talks between the two NSAs.Both sides reviewed progress in bilateral cooperation and discussed important issues of mutual interest,” the Indian embassy in Russia stated.
Doval’s Russia visit comes after PM Modi’s historic trip to Ukrainian capital Kyiv two-and-a-half weeks ago. During his visit, PM Modi spoke with Zelenskyy about the ongoing conflict with Russia, emphasising on the need for both nations to sit together without wasting any time further to bring the war to an end. PM Modi also expressed India’s readiness in playing an active role to restore peace in the war-hit region.
He stated that India was on the side of peace since the beginning of the conflict and that he is ready to even contribute personally to achieve a peaceful resolution of the crisis. PM Modi’s nine-hour visit to Ukraine was the first official visit by an Indian prime minister since its independence in 1991. It also came six weeks after the PM held summit talks with Putin in Moscow.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also met Zelenskyy on Saturday following which she stated that India and China can play a key role in helping Russia-Ukraine solve the dragging conflict.