“Want this to end as soon as possible”: Putin to Modi on Ukraine war

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi today (September 16, 2022) met Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Uzbek city of Samarkand for the first time since Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out in February and told him that it is not an era of war.

Though India has not yet criticised Russian invasion of Ukraine, it has been advocating a peaceful resolution of the conflict. In fact, India has been maintaining a fine balance between its close ties with Russia on one hand and the US and the West on the other.

Putin reportedly replied to Modi that he understood India's concerns about the war.

"I know about your position on the conflict in Ukraine and I know about your concerns. We want all of this to end as soon as possible. We will keep abreast of what is happening there."

Modi and Putin held the talks on the sidelines of the annual summit of the eight-nation security grouping Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Samarkand and were understood to have discussed bilateral, regional and global issues.

According to Indian media reports from Samarkand, Modi conveyed to Putin that "I know that today's era is not an era of war and I have spoken to you on phone about this".

Modi said, "We should find ways to address the problems of food, fuel security, and fertilizers." The problems were aggravated by the war in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Uzbekistan today handed over the rotating presidency of SCO to India.

Taking to Twitter, Uzbek Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov wrote: "As a result #SCOSamarkandSummit, India will host next SCO summit as a chairman of Organization in 2023. We will do our best to assist India, our strategic partner, in the implementation of this responsible mission."

The SCO consists of China, India, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Pakistan as full members.