India’s New Russia-Ukraine Role: Jaishankar Says New Delhi Has Moved Beyond Advocacy
India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar at Munich Security Conference. (Image EAM on X)
By NIRENDRA DEV
External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar says India is now engaging with both Russia and Ukraine on issues including Black Sea shipping, grain exports, energy supplies and possible non-attack arrangements.
New Delhi, October 5, 2026 — India has moved beyond advocacy and stepped up its engagement with both Russia and Ukraine in efforts to help resolve the ongoing conflict, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said.
“We have been advocating it for many years, and in recent months we have got a little bit more involved beyond advocacy. We have conversations with both Russia and Ukraine in this regard. We are trying to be helpful, starting with the Black Sea safety of shipping issue,” Jaishankar said.
He said India is now going beyond its long-standing call for dialogue and diplomacy by addressing immediate concerns involving both sides, including grain exports, energy supplies and the possibility of non-attack arrangements.
“Those are ongoing conversations right now,” Jaishankar said.
Jaishankar’s remarks come against the backdrop of India’s consistent position that the Russia-Ukraine conflict should end through dialogue and diplomacy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier said, “This is not an era of War.”
In 2026, Modi again pitched for peace, saying: “From the endless war; there is a need to move to the End of War.”
At the Munich Leaders’ Meeting in New Delhi, Jaishankar reiterated India’s position.
“Our position on that conflict has been very clear, which is that we would like to see an end to this conflict. This will require dialogue and diplomacy. There has to be negotiations in this regard,” he said.
Jaishankar also referred to Prime Minister Modi’s August 31 meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Bishkek, where Modi noted that the “endless war must now give way to end of war.”
The External Affairs Minister also discussed India’s long-standing relationship with Russia and its historical roots. He said India and Russia have had historically good relations, particularly since the 1950s, and that the history of the relationship “is not forgotten.”
“At a time when much of the world preferred backing a military regime next to us, Russia was a country with which our relations were very good and we are shaped in many ways by that legacy,” Jaishankar said.
He noted that the relationship has now widened beyond its traditional areas of military cooperation.
“It is very much more today an economic relationship as well. There is a military component, there are nuclear components, there is a space aspect, but there is a significant amount of trade and investment between the two countries and energy and resources as well,” he said.
Jaishankar also spoke about what he described as a major repositioning of the United States.
“No one in the room would disagree with the fact that the landscape today is primarily marked by a radical repositioning of the United States. A repositioning which is a posture of choice,” he said.
India’s engagement with Russia and Ukraine, meanwhile, reflects its stated emphasis on dialogue and diplomacy while addressing immediate concerns linked to the conflict.
The latest comments suggest that New Delhi sees its role as extending beyond advocacy, with ongoing conversations focused on practical issues affecting both Russia and Ukraine.
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