India to be strong contender for the Nobel Peace Prize if they broker a Russia-Ukraine peace agreement

India would surely be a top contender for the world's greatest Peace Prize—the Nobel—if it can successfully broker a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine.

- KOUNTEYA SINHA

In an exclusive interview from Norway, Henrik Urdal, the Director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), said that if India leverages its increasing international clout for successful conflict mediation, the country and its Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, could win the Nobel Peace Prize.

“The area where I think a strong Indian performance and leadership could result in a Peace Prize is conflict mediation. If Prime Minister Modi takes a leadership position here, and significant results are achieved, he could win the Nobel Peace Prize,” Urdal said.

He added: “As an emerging global power, India has a great opportunity and responsibility to play a positive and constructive role in a world currently struggling. India seems to have the ambition to contribute to strengthening multilateral collaboration and to play a role in mediation efforts. The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine is one example, with others being regional conflicts like Myanmar.”

The number of Ukrainians and Russians killed or wounded in the two-and-a-half-year-long war is believed to have crossed one million—a staggering number of lives lost for both countries.

Urdal’s comments come just a couple of months after Modi visited both Ukraine and Russia, with India now being seen globally as a country working in the shadows to broker a peace deal between the two nations.

India's National Security Adviser, Ajit Doval, travelled to Moscow soon after to hold crucial discussions.

"We are not neutral. From the very beginning, we have taken sides. And we have chosen the side of peace. We come from the land of Buddha, where there is no place for war," PM Modi said during his recent visit to Ukraine.

The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on October 11.