Why India refused to back the Ukraine summit statement

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The two-day international peace summit on Ukraine, held at the Bürgenstock resort in Switzerland and wrapped up on June 16, exposed the fault lines in the way the world looks at the war rather than showing a united response. Switzerland, the host, called the conference, with backing from Ukraine and its Western allies, to chart out a framework for future peace in Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia on February 24, 2022. Delegations from more than 100 countries, including India, participated in the conference. But there was a catch. Russia, which launched the war, was not invited for the meet. China, a major strategic partner of Russia and the world’s second largest economy, had shunned the conference. Brazil, the Chair of G20 this year, sent only observers, not participants. And India, the fifth largest economy which continued to maintain its trade and strategic ties with Russia despite the war and pressure from the West, chose to send a diplomatic delegation rather than a political one.

At the summit, more than 80 countries signed a joint statement that backed “dialogue between all parties” to resolve the conflict. “The ongoing war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine continues to cause large-scale human suffering and destruction and to create risks and crises with global repercussions,” according to the joint statement. But members also addressed, though indirectly, the main bottleneck—the absence of Russia in the room. “Further engagement of the representatives of all parties” was necessary to proceed, it said, vaguely referring to the need for Russian participation in future talks. While most members supported dialogue, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who spoke at the conference, set out the terms for talks with Russia. He said, drawing from the 10-point peace formula Kyiv had released earlier, that Ukraine would hold talks with Russia only if the latter withdrew from all of its territories, including Crimea, which Russia annexed through a referendum in 2014. His plan also included reparations from Russia and justice for alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces during the war.

Read Smita Sharma’s report for The Hindu from the summit venue.  

India, which was represented by Pavan Kapoor, Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs, refused to sign the document, titled ‘Joint Communique on a Peace Framework’, along with other countries such as South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Mexico, Thailand and the UAE. “Our participation in the summit and continued engagement with all stakeholders is with a view to 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 parties can lead to abiding peace,” said Mr. Kapoor. Other countries who refused to sign the document also expressed similar concerns, saying lasting peace cannot be achieved if Russia sits outside the talks. South Africa, which has filed a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, protested the Swiss authorities’ decision to invite Israel to the summit.

Though there was no consensus at the Swiss summit, Ukraine’s Western backers used it to express their support and solidarity with Kyiv, at a time when Ukrainian forces are struggling to arrest Russia’s advances in the eastern battlefield. Russia has captured hundreds of square kilometres of Ukrainian territory this year. Earlier last week, in Italy, G7 advanced countries decided to leverage some $260 billion Russian assets, which have been frozen mostly by European banks, to grant a $50 billion loan to Ukraine. G7 countries also stated that they would stand by Ukraine “as long as it takes”.

Putin’s offer

Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin of Russia said he was ready for a ceasefire, but only if Ukraine withdraws full troops from all the four regions Russia has annexed—Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. Mr. Putin said his proposal is aimed at a “final resolution” of the conflict in Ukraine rather than “freezing it,” and stressed that the Kremlin is “ready to start negotiations without delay”. Ukraine has rejected Mr. Putin’s offer at once.

So basically, there is no consensus. Ukraine and its backers want Russia to withdraw from all territories it captured as a precondition to start negotiations. Russia wants Ukraine’s complete surrender and withdrawal from the regions it claims as its own to cease fire and start talks. While the chasm between the two sides remains wide, the war is going on with Russia making incremental gains in the battlefield. India backs the idea of dialogue. And it wants the war to be brought to an end. But it believes that for achieving this goal, both Russia and Ukraine have to hold talks. International peace summits on the Ukraine war that omits Russia may not help advance the agenda of talks between Moscow and Kyiv

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