India always emphasised solution to Ukraine conflict can’t be found on battlefield

India has called for respecting the UN Charter, including sovereignty and territorial integrity, in the context of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and emphasised that a solution cannot be found on the battlefield, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

The people, speaking on condition of anonymity, were responding to the US state department spokesperson’s comments urging India, when it engages with Russia, to make it clear that a resolution to the conflict in Ukraine needs to respect the UN Charter and Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Moscow on Monday for his first visit to Russia in almost five years and was hosted by President Vladimir Putin at his dacha or country home for a private meeting and dinner that lasted about two hours.

The people said the Ukraine conflict was among the issues that figured in discussions between the two leaders.

“India has always called for respecting the UN Charter, including territorial integrity and sovereignty. There is no solution on the battlefield,” one of the people cited above said.

“Dialogue and diplomacy is the way forward,” he added.

The Indian side had made it clear on Monday that the focus of Modi’s visit would be on the economic agenda, including bilateral cooperation on energy, fertilisers, trade and manufacturing. In the context of the Ukraine conflict, the Indian side would emphasise that “a solution cannot be found on the battlefield”, the people said.

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Modi last met Putin in September 2022 on the margins of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Uzbekistan, when he had nudged the Russian leader to end the conflict in Ukraine by pointing out that “today’s era is not of war”.

When US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller was asked about the timing of Modi’s visit to Russia coinciding with a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit being hosted by Washington, he replied that the US expects any country engaging with Russia to press for a resolution of the Ukraine conflict that is in line with the UN Charter.

Miller also noted that Modi had met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last month.

“We would urge India, as we do any country when it engages with Russia, to make clear that any resolution to the conflict in Ukraine needs to be one that respects the UN Charter, that respects Ukraine’s territorial integrity, Ukraine’s sovereignty,” Miller said.

“And India is a strategic partner with whom we engage in a full and frank dialogue, and that includes on our concerns about the relationship with Russia,” he said.

Pressed further on the issue of leaders of other countries engaging with Russia, Miller replied: “We welcome people engaging with Russia about the war in Ukraine if they make clear to Russia that Russia needs to respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. And that goes to the fact that there is a difference between Ukraine and Russia and there’s a difference between engaging with Ukraine and Russia, because one side is the aggressor and one side’s the victim.”

In response to another question on whether Modi had made these issues clear to Putin, Miller said: “I will look to Prime Minister Modi’s public remarks to see what he talked about, but as I said, we made quite clear directly with India our concerns about their relationship with Russia... so we would hope India and any other country, when they engage with Russia, would make clear that Russia should respect the UN Charter, should respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”