New Delhi: National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is travelling to Russia this week against the backdrop of calls for India’s possible role in finding a solution to the Ukraine conflict following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visits to Moscow and Kyiv.
Doval is visiting Russia primarily to attend a conclave of national security advisors of the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) grouping that is taking place amid a renewed push for peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv to end the conflict.
NSA Doval is travelling to Russia for the BRICS meet, official sources said. He is also expected to hold talks with his Russian counterpart and is likely to discuss ways to bring peace to the region.
BRICS is an informal group of 10 nations comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran, Egypt, and Ethiopia.
The last BRICS-NSA meeting was held in South Africa’s Johannesburg in 2023, where Doval also represented India.
During his telephonic conversation with Russian President Vladmir Putin last month. Prime Minister Narendra Modi informed him that Doval would be visiting Moscow to discuss ideas related to peace following his trip to Ukraine.
The PM, however, did not specify a date or timing of Doval’s visit.
In August, PM Modi undertook a historic visit to Ukraine where he told President Volodymr Zelenskyy that “dialogue and diplomacy” were the only solution to end the war, offering to help personally as a friend for peace mediation with Russia.
“India was never neutral in this war, we are on the side of peace,” he was quoted as saying in a joint statement in Kyiv.
PM Modi’s visit to Ukraine came after his headline-grabbing visit to Russia and a hug with President Putin drew sharp reactions from the West, as well as Zelenskyy.
The Ukrainian President had called the meeting a “huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts.”
