India offers to mediate on food corridors as Russia-Ukraine talks near | External Affairs & Defence Security News

India on Monday said it was actively engaged with both Russia and Ukraine to find a diplomatic solution to their conflict after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had a telephonic conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

 

The telephone conversations on Monday evening took place ahead of the planned peace talks involving officials from Ukraine, Russia and the United States. Officials from the three countries are set to converge in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, for negotiations aimed at ending the nearly five-year war between Moscow and Kyiv. The talks will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday.

  

Jaishankar’s discussion with Lavrov “focused on the Ukraine conflict and the ongoing diplomatic initiatives”.

 

Zelenskyy said in a social media post that he had flagged to Modi the continued blocking of grain exports via the Black Sea by Russia. The Ukrainian President said India “is ready to mediate in establishing food corridors”. He said Russia must understand that the global economy and millions of people worldwide are suffering because of the blocked sea routes.

 

India has consistently urged both sides to undertake dialogue to end the war. Indian officials, including External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, have flagged concerns over the maritime safety of seafarers, including Indian sailors who have been killed, and the fuel and fertiliser crises facing the Global South due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the conflict in West Asia.

 

Prime Minister Modi urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to move from an “endless war” to an “end of war” at their meeting on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Bishkek on August 31-September 1, and later at the BRICS Summit that India hosted in September.

 

In the first week of October, addressing the Kautilya Economic Conclave in New Delhi, Jaishankar said that India was mediating between Russia and Ukraine to ensure secure shipping of grains and fertilisers, as this was linked to the Global South’s food security.

 

In July, after attacks on merchant ships by both Russia and Ukraine resulted in the killing and injury of Indian sailors, Jaishankar raised the issue with the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine. The discussions revealed the nature of the ships’ cargoes and that grain exports had almost come to a halt, he said. The challenge was to delink shipments of grains and other commodities from energy shipments, he said.

 

Modi met Russian President Putin in Bishkek for the SCO Summit at the end of August. Jaishankar flew down to Kyiv, where he met Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. Putin and Modi held further discussions during the BRICS Summit in New Delhi in mid-September, and the discussions are ongoing, Jaishankar said at the Kautilya Economic Conclave.

 

Jaishankar described it as a tough situation but important to resolve since stopping grain, fertiliser and energy exports would disproportionately affect the Global South. He said India had a larger responsibility towards the Global South and reiterated his concerns about the scarcity of “4Fs” — fuel, food, fertilisers and finance — for the Global South.

 

In his telephone conversation with Zelenskyy on Monday, Prime Minister Modi reaffirmed India’s human-centric approach and reiterated India’s consistent position that the Russia-Ukraine conflict must be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy. He conveyed India’s readiness to contribute to all efforts aimed at a peaceful resolution of the conflict. According to a Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) readout of the conversation, Zelenskyy shared his perspective on recent developments related to the ongoing conflict.

 

“Glad to have had a productive telephone conversation with President Zelenskyy. We reviewed our wide-ranging bilateral cooperation and agreed to further strengthen India-Ukraine ties,” Modi posted on social media. “I thanked President Zelenskyy for sharing his perspectives on the ongoing conflict, its humanitarian aspects and various efforts to restore pace,” the PM said, and “reiterated India’s firm commitment to contributing in every possible way towards a peaceful resolution.”

 

In his post on X on Monday evening, Zelenskyy said he had briefed Modi on the latest diplomatic developments. “We are actively preparing on every item on the agenda for the meeting in Abu Dhabi. Ukraine has always taken a constructive approach, and Russia must show the same readiness to de-escalate,” he said. The Ukrainian President said that Modi had said more than once, including directly to Putin, that now was the time to end the war.

 

“It is important that India identify what steps it can take and what dialogue it can pursue with other leaders to help bring the war to an end,” Zelenskyy said, adding that food security could be one such area and India “is ready to mediate in establishing food corridors”.