'With EAM's Moscow visit, India may try to broker Ukraine peace'

NEW DELHI: Speculation swirled on Sunday that external affairs minister Š Jaishankar's visit to Moscow this week could lead to efforts to end the war between Russia and Ukraine though officials in New Delhi remained tight-lipped on the matter.

Officially, Jaishankar is travelling to Russia on Monday to co-chair a meeting of the bilateral Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGCTEC) with Russian trade minister Denis Manturov, and to hold talks with his counterpart Sergey Lavrov. The meetings are scheduled for Tuesday, people familiar with the matter said.

The speculation about India playing a possible role in mediating between Russia and Ukraine grew following a report in The New York Times, which said the Indian side played an "important behind-the-scenes role" in July to help convince Russia about a deal brokered by the UN and Turkey to free up large stocks of Ukrainian food grains, and then asked "Russia to back off" in September when Russian forces were shelling the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine.

Referring to Jaishankar's visit, the report added, "Diplomats and foreign-policy experts are watching closely to see if India can use its unique leverage as one of the world's largest countries that is a friend to both East and West to press Russia to end its war in Ukraine."