India's Modi Urges Quick 'Peaceful' End To Ukraine War In Meeting With Putin
On the first day of the annual BRICS summit held in Kazan, Russia - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a call for the war in Ukraine to be resolved peacefully and "quickly".
This is the message he conveyed directly Russian President Vladimir Putin upon the start of the three-day gathering. Putin hopes to present the BRICS alliance as the main alternative to Western hegemony.
"We have been in constant touch over the conflict between Russia and Ukraine," Modi told Putin, just after the two once again shared a warm embrace. "We believe that disputes should only be resolved peacefully. We totally support efforts to quickly restore peace and stability," Modi emphasized. Russia looks anything but "isolated" during this week of hosting major heads of state.
"All our efforts give priority to humanity. India is ready to provide all possible cooperation in the times to come," the prime minister added.
Modi had recounted upon arriving in Kazan the night prior - and as a way to highlight steady relations with Moscow despite the more than two-year long Ukraine war - that this is his second visit to Russia in just three months.
"My two visits to Russia in the last three months reflect our close coordination and deep friendship. Our Annual Summit in Moscow in July has strengthened our cooperation in every field...In 15 years, the BRICS has created its special identity and now many countries of the world want to join it. I am looking forward to participating in the BRICS Summit tomorrow," Modi said.
Putin responded positively by describing that "Russian-Indian relations have the character of a particularly privileged strategic partnership and continue to actively develop."
Modi and Putin laugh at a joke by the Russian president...
🇷🇺🇮🇳 "Our Relations are So Good, You Understand Without a Translator" - Putin Jokes with Modi
— RT_India (@RT_India_news) October 22, 2024
A friendship between nations not lost in translation?#BRICS2024 pic.twitter.com/bQ92M1yZHB
Other BRICS partners are likely to repeat this call for peace and de-escalation in Ukraine. Around two dozen global leaders in the Russian city, notably including Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Russian state sources are hailing Russia playing host to the summit:
By hosting BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia “shows the West that it’s not isolated” and President Vladimir Putin “is no pariah,” Time Magazine reported on Tuesday.
According to Alicia Garcia-Herrero, a senior research fellow at the Bruegel think tank who spoke to the outlet, BRICS “expansion is a clear sign that the global balance of power is shifting.”
Top of the agenda toward this end will be discussion of and the further advancing of a BRICS-led payment system to rival the SWIFT international payment system, which President Putin has long talked about.
Looks who's arriving in "Isolated Russia" for the huge BRICS summit 2024
— sumit (@sumityou40) October 22, 2024
The leaders of the biggest economies and democracies on Earth.
Russian President Putin to hold meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian PM Modi at BRICS Summit tomorrow in Russia. pic.twitter.com/rs1OiJuD0J
The conflicts breaking out in the Middle East will also be a prime topic, given Israel is still vowing to strike back at Iran for the Oct.1st ballistic missile attack, and as Lebanon comes under increasing bombardment by Israeli jets.