India not neutral; it is on side of peace: PM Modi on Russia-Ukraine conflict

Washington: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has welcomed US President Donald Trump's efforts to end the war in Ukraine, insisting that a solution to the conflict cannot be found on the battlefield and that dialogue and diplomacy is the only way to bring peace.

After his wide-ranging talks with Trump at the White House on Thursday (Friday India time), Modi said India has not been neutral on the war and that it is on the side of peace.

"I have always been in close contact with Russia and Ukraine. I have met the leaders of both countries. The world somehow feels India has been neutral, but I want to reiterate that India has not been neutral," he said at a joint media briefing with Trump.

"In fact, India has been on the side of peace," he said, adding "I support Donald Trump's efforts towards finding a possible solution to end the war." Modi also recalled his message to Russian President Vladimir Putin that it is not the era for war, "When I met President Putin, I had even said that 'this is not the era for war'. I had also said that solutions cannot be found on the battlefield. They can only come when all parties sit at the table for dialogue," the prime minister said.

"India believes that the solution to the war can be found only when the issue is discussed in a forum where both countries (Russia and Ukraine) are in attendance." On Wednesday, Trump said he held a lengthy and productive phone call with Putin and that they agreed to move forward towards negotiations to end the war.

The US president even said he and Putin "agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately".

India has all along been pressing for resolution of the Ukraine conflict through dialogue and diplomacy.

In his summit talks with Putin on July 9 last year in Moscow, Modi told the Russian leader that a solution to the Ukraine conflict is not possible on the battlefield and peace efforts do not succeed in the midst of bombs and bullets.

Weeks later he travelled to Ukraine.

In his talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Modi said both Ukraine and Russia should sit together without wasting time to end the ongoing war and that India was ready to play an "active role" to restore peace in the region.