- Saturday, June 29, 2024
Pavan Kapoor, secretary (west) in India’s ministry of external affairs (MEA), represented the country at the summit in the Swiss resort of Burgenstock where New Delhi called for “sincere and practical engagement” between Moscow and Kyiv.
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA on Sunday (16) was among the countries that did not ink a joint communique at a Switzerland-hosted summit for peace in Ukraine even as New Delhi called for “sincere and practical engagement” between Moscow and Kyiv for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
Pavan Kapoor, secretary (west) in India’s ministry of external affairs (MEA), represented the country at the summit in the Swiss resort of Burgenstock beside Lake Lucerne that was attended by delegates from more than 100 countries and organisations, including several heads of state.
Russia was not invited to the summit while China decided to skip it.
India said it did not associate itself with any communique or document emerging from the summit, asserting only those options acceptable to both parties can lead to abiding peace.
Read: India, Ukraine foreign ministers discuss global, bilateral issues
In a brief address, the Indian diplomat said New Delhi’s participation in the summit and several earlier meetings of senior officials based on Ukraine’s peace formula was in line with “our clear and consistent approach that enduring peace can be achieved only through dialogue and diplomacy”.
“We continue to believe that such a peace requires bringing together all stakeholders and a sincere and practical engagement between the two parties to the conflict,” he said.
Read: Way to peace is through ‘dialogue, diplomacy’: Modi to Zelenskyy at G7
“Accordingly, we will continue to engage with all stakeholders as well as the two parties to the conflict to contribute to all earnest efforts to achieve lasting peace in Ukraine,” Kapoor said.
The diplomat also said India’s participation in the summit and continued engagement with all stakeholders is aimed at understanding different perspectives, approaches and options to find a way forward for a “sustainable resolution of the conflict”.
“In our view, only those options acceptable to both the parties can lead to abiding peace. In line with this approach, we have decided to avoid association with the joint communique or any other document emerging from this summit,” he noted.
The key objective of the ‘Summit on Peace in Ukraine’ that concluded on Sunday was to inspire a future peace process.
The Indian delegation attended the opening and closing plenary sessions of the summit.
In his remarks, Kapoor said India deemed it “important to join the gathering that seeks to explore the way forward to a negotiated settlement of a very complex and pressing issue”.
“India shares the global concern over the situation in Ukraine and supports any collective desire to facilitate a peaceful resolution of the conflict,” he said.
A Swiss foreign ministry statement said 83 states and organisations approved the joint communique at the end of the “High-Level Conference on Peace in Ukraine”.
“We believe that reaching peace requires the involvement of and dialogue between all parties. We, therefore, decided to undertake concrete steps in the future in the above-mentioned areas with further engagement of the representatives of all parties,” the joint communique said.
The meet in Switzerland took place just a day after the G7 summit concluded in Apulia Italy where Indian prime minister Narendra Modi was present. He also met, among various world leaders, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and remarked that the way to peace is through “dialogue and diplomacy”.
He also said India would continue to do everything within its means to support a peaceful solution to the Ukraine conflict. and that the country believes in a “human-centric” approach.
Modi spoke to both Zelenskyy and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on multiple occasions since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
India has not yet condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and it has been maintaining that the crisis must be resolved through diplomacy and dialogue. Modi even told Putin that this is not an era of war when the two leaders met in Samarkand in Uzbekistan for the Shanghai Cooperation Summit in September 2022.
At the summit in Switzerland, Zelenskyy sought support for his 10-point peace plan that he first outlined in 2022.
“The peace formula is inclusive, and we are happy to hear and work on all proposals, all ideas of what is really needed for peace and what is important to you dear friends,” Zelenskyy said.
“I urge you to be as active as possible and I am proud all parts of the world, all continents are now represented at the peace summit,” he said.
“The prime minister conveyed that India continues to encourage peaceful resolution of the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy, and reiterated that India would continue to do everything within its means to support a peaceful solution,” the MEA said after the meeting.
(With PTI inputs)
