Diplomacy needed to resolve Ukraine war: Modi tells Putin

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday repeated his country’s call for dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the war in Ukraine in a telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, an Indian statement said.

India holds the rotating presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation this year and Russia and India are both members of the eight-nation intergovernmental body, which will be holding a summit next week.

President Putin and Modi discussed the situation in Ukraine and the Indian leader “reiterated his call for dialogue and diplomacy”, an Indian government statement issued late Friday said.

India has refused to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but Modi said at a G7 summit last month that he would do “whatever we can” to end the conflict.

Stopping short of directly criticising India’s long-time ally and its biggest arms supplier, Modi had earlier told Putin that this was “not the time for war”.

After the United States, western European countries and others banned Russian oil sales, India has emerged as a major importer of the commodity.

Putin informed Modi “about the recent developments in Russia”, the statement said, without offering details.

Last week, Russia saw a short-lived rebellion by members of the Wagner mercenary group, with the group’s leader vowing to take on the country’s military leadership.

Yevgeny Prigozhin’s rebellion quickly fizzled and he then left for Belarus under a negotiated settlement.