On 31 August, during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that New Delhi supports all peace initiatives that could lead to an end to Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The conversation took place in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, where both leaders had travelled for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit.
“India supports all efforts aimed at achieving peace and will continue to do so,” said Modi. “We must move from endless war to an end to the war.”
According to the Kremlin press service, Putin did not raise the subject of the war during the conversation. Instead, he spoke about plans to develop Russian-Indian relations.
The Russian president also noted that Moscow is “making serious preparations” for the BRICS summit, which is due to take place in New Delhi in September. Modi, for his part, stated that India is looking forward to Putin’s visit and hopes it will “strengthen bilateral relations”.
Earlier that day, Putin held a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Bishkek, according to Russian and Chinese media reports. Both presidents had travelled to Kyrgyzstan to attend the SCO summit, the official proceedings of which are due to begin on 1 September.
As reported by Interfax, the meeting with Xi Jinping was the first in a series of bilateral talks between Putin and foreign leaders.