India Narrative

  The liberation of Donbass region in southeastern Ukraine remains the "ultimate goal" of Moscow's ongoing 'special military operation', Russian President Vladimir Putin said in Ashgabat Wednesday evening. After wrapping up his visit to Tajikistan, Putin travelled to Turkmenistan's capital city to participate in the 6th Caspian Summit. The Presidents of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan also took part in the meeting of the heads of state of the Caspian Five. On the sidelines of the event, Putin told reporters that everything was going "according to plan" in Ukraine. "The ultimate goal I have outlined is the liberation of Donbass, the protection of these people and the creation of conditions that would guarantee the security of Russia itself. That's all. The work is going smoothly, rhythmically. As you can see, the troops are moving and reaching those lines that are set as a task at a certain stage of this combat work," he sa

Calling it a tough decision for his country, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said that phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil due to the ongoing Ukraine conflict will "take time" and that Tokyo has no plans as of now to back out from large oil and gas extraction projects with Moscow in the Russian Far East. Kishida made the comment in Tokyo on Monday morning, only a few hours after attending the Group of Seven (G7) Summit video conference which lasted for about 70 minutes from midnight (Japan time).   The meeting was held at the behest of Germany, which holds the G7 presidency this year, and was attended by the leaders of G7 countries and also the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In a joint statement released today, the G7 leaders committed to phase out dependency on Russian energy, including by phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil in "timely and orderly fashion", and in ways that provide time for the world to secure altern

Russian President Vladimir Putin told Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Thursday that Russia was still ready to provide a safe passage for civilians from the besieged Azovstal steel works in the Ukrainian port of Mariupol, according to a Kremlin statement. It said Putin in a telephonic conversation with Bennett also said that Kyiv should order Ukrainian troops holding out in the vast Azovstal plant to lay down their weapons. The commander of the Ukrainian forces has in social media posts stated that his troops are running out of ammunition and food but the top authorities in Kyiv have ordered him to stay put in his position. Some civilians have made it to safety through humanitarian corridors allowed by the Russian forces but there are more still inside. The Kremlin has denied that Russian forces were storming the plant, referring to an April 21 order from Putin that they should seal it off but not venture inside its huge network of underground tunnels. Russian President Vladim

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that "despite Kyiv's inconsistency and unpreparedness for serious work", Moscow is still open to dialogue to resolve the ongoing conflict with Ukraine.   In a telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday evening, Putin also accused the European Union member states of ignoring the "war crimes" of the Ukrainian security forces. This was the first interaction between the two leaders after Macron was re-elected as head of state after his victory in the recent presidential elections. Both Presidents have exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine several times since February 24, the day Russia began its 'special military operation' in the neighbouring country. As Putin congratulated Macron on his election triumph, he detailed the course of the military operation, including the liberation of Mariupol and the evacuation of civilians "held by the nationalists" at the Azovstal plant i

Russia said on Monday that its armed forces continue to strike important military infrastructure of Ukraine with high-precision missiles, including the Iskander-M which destroys air and missile defence systems as well as other important objects at a distance of up to 500 km. Releasing a video on the operation today, the Russian Defence Ministry showed how the Iskander-M operational-tactical missile system destroys an entire battery of Smerch multiple launch rocket systems of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with a high-precision strike. "Intelligence calculated the positions of the rocket artillery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In the sky, an unmanned aerial vehicle controls the target. At a distance of hundreds of kilometers from the enemy, 'Iskander-M' hits the enemy in the heart. In place of the explosion, a sea of fire and a column of smoke. Dozens of destroyed strategic facilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have already been accounted for by such complexes," sai

Russia was expelled from the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC) at a Special Session of the UN General Assembly on April 7, 2022. Like on earlier ten occasions during discussions in the United Nations on the Russian aggression against Ukraine, India abstained in this vote also. In the Explanation of the Vote delivered after casting his vote, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN asserted that if it has “chosen” any side, it is the side of “peace and it is for an immediate end to violence. Since the inception of the Ukrainian conflict, India has stood for peace, dialogue and diplomacy. We believe that no solution can be arrived at by shedding blood and at the cost of innocent lives.’’ He said that India’s action was dictated by ‘’reasons of both substance and process.” India has adopted a balanced approach in all discussions at the UN on this issue. This has been predicated by the necessity to uphold and promote its core security and developmental interests as well as t

After more than a month of the Russian invasion into Ukraine, the war is moving into an uncertain direction with no respite to the former’s onslaught on the latter causing unimaginable death, destruction and dislocation of innocent people. About 3.8 million people have already left for neighbouring European countries with Poland bearing the largest burden of hosting them. As the Russians make further advances into more Ukrainian cities, including in the western part of the country which remained unaffected till some time back, more people are likely to move out putting enormous pressure on bordering countries. While the Ukrainians are putting up a heroic resistance to the Russian attack, the military balance in terms of tanks, rockets, missiles and airpower are so much tilted in favour of the Russians that it is a question of time when Kyiv, Mariupol and Kharkiv will also fall to the Russians. Russians and Ukrainian negotiators are conducting their sixth round of talks in Istanbul in T

The United States is working closely with its Allies to provide longer-range anti-aircraft, artillery and coastal defence systems as part of its military assistance to Ukraine which it says is having a "critical impact" in the ongoing conflict with Russia.     Jake Sullivan, the US National Security Advisor, said on Monday that the Ukrainians are "effectively defending themselves" with US-produced air defence systems and anti-tank systems, such as Stingers and Javelins, as well as radar systems that give early warning and target data, and multiple other types of arms and munitions. "The administration is working around the clock to fulfill Ukraine's main security assistance requests — delivering weapons from US stocks where they are available and facilitating the delivery of weapons by Allies where Allied systems better suit Ukraine's needs. This is happening at what the Pentagon has described at an unprecedented pace," said Sullivan at a briefing

Calling it as "another production by the Kiev regime for the Western media'', Russia has slammed accusations of allegedly killing civilians in Bucha, a town about 26 kms northwest of the Ukrainian capital. Russian troops have been accused of committing atrocities as photos and videos from Bucha depicting killing of civilians in Ukraine have gone viral on social media. While the United Kingdom said that increasing evidence of appalling acts by the invading forces in towns such as Irpin and Bucha is emerging as the Russian troops are forced into retreat, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Sunday called for an independent investigation, saying he is "deeply shocked" by the images of civilians killed in Bucha. "You can't help but see these images as a punch to the gut. And look, we've said before Russia's aggression that we thought it was likely that they would commit atrocities," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Washingto

  Western commentators are struggling to describe the significance of the ongoing war in Ukraine. Fareed Zakaria has described it as a “seismic event”, the most significant international event since the fall of the Berlin Wall, and believes it marks “the end of an age”. Francis Fukuyama has called it “a critical turning point in world history”. He views it as the latest assault on liberalism that had started well before the war when illiberal authoritarian regimes had emerged in several major countries; he sees the war as a reminder “in the most vivid way possible what the consequences of illiberal dictatorship are”.  Thomas Friedman simply says: “Our world is not going to be the same again.” These cataclysmic prognostications from Western sources have not had the same reverberations in West Asia. Four years of the anarchy wreaked in the region by Donald Trump followed by one year of Joe Biden’s insipid and shaky presidency have already created a diplomatic churn, with regional states

For the West to build pressure on India to condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine as some kind of a political and moral obligation for a democracy is a brazenly manipulative exercise. If western democracies genuinely believe that all democratic countries have an obligation to band together against Russia on this issue shows how much they have become prisoners of their own rhetoric and are incapable of seeing the incongruities in their position. If, on the other hand, they are aware that they themselves have not adhered to the principle that they now espouse in the case of Russia, it denotes outright cynicism bred by a sense of unaccountable power. India, which has been a democracy since 1947, has not received any special consideration on the political economic and security fronts from the West. On the contrary, it has been subject to decades of sanctions in the strategic nuclear, space and high technology areas. It was pushed toward a close relationship with the Soviet Union in the

Russia's government said on Thursday that it had proposed in draft legislation allowing foreign planes leased by Russian airlines to be registered as the airlines' property. Western aircraft owners are facing a situation where they could lose hundreds of Airbus and Boeing commercial jets that Russian airlines have effectively kept away from seizure Foreign leasing firms have succeeded in repossessing only about two dozen of the more than 500 aircraft rented to Russian carriers, said Dean Gerber, general counsel for Valkyrie BTO Aviation. The planes in limbo have a market value of about $10.3 billion, according to a Bloomberg report that cited estimates from aviation analytics firm Ishka.   Technically, lessors have until March 28 to cancel contracts under European Union sanctions. But state-owned Aeroflot PJSC and other airlines have already flown back most of the planes to Russia where they are out of reach of their owners.  This had followed the ban on Russian flights under w

As Russia's special operations in Ukraine entered its 14th day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukraine will no longer be seeking NATO membership as the alliance is not prepared to accept Ukraine and is afraid to confront Russia. "I have cooled down regarding this question a long time ago after we understood that ... NATO is not prepared to accept Ukraine," Zelensky said in an interview, Monday night on ABC News. He has also said that he is open to "compromise" on the status of two breakaway pro-Russian territories that President Vladimir Putin recognised as independent just before unleashing the invasion on February 24. Finally, Zelensky may be getting it right when he said that he does not want to be president of a "country which is begging (for) something on its knees". The West has been eulogizing and lionizing him and the Ukrainian people, while demonizing Russia and its actions in Ukraine. Yet, it has done very little to help

The Ukraine war brings into light once again the irrelevance of the UN charter and all the noble principles and values that powerful states swear by in their conduct of international and state-to-state relations and how they are sacrificed at the altar of their self-perceived national interests and security. Right or wrong, powerful states can present their narratives in a manner that can justify their invasion of a weaker country and can get away. The US has done it in Iraq in the past, and now the Russians are doing it in Ukraine. The US called Sadaam Hussein an abominable dictator with his WMD posing a threat to the regional security and the Russians calling the regime in Kyiv neo-Nazis and drug addicts who must be overthrown even at the cost of pulverizing the country with rockets and missile carpet bombing. The victims are always innocent people including women and children. When two elephants fight with each other, it is the grass that suffers, so the saying goes. Behind the int

India has once again appealed to Russia and Ukraine to have a local ceasefire in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy so that it can evacuate hundreds of its citizens, mainly students, who have been stuck in the region for a long time now. According to the Indian authorities' estimate, there are about 700-plus, or even a little higher, number of Indian students still stuck in a conflict situation in Sumy and another 300 people left in Kharkiv. Reports suggest that Russia has arranged about 103 buses on its side of the border near Kharkiv to help in evacuation of the Indian students. However, the location of buses remains about 50-60 kilometres away from where the Indian students are. "They're frankly, too far away for them to just walk in and take it. This is a conflict zone and we don't see a safe and secure way to reach them. In fact, I would appeal and urge the parties concerned to have a local ceasefire, at least so that we can go to those buses if that is a suggest

India on Wednesday continued to maintain its neutral stand as it abstained from voting on a UN General Assembly resolution that strongly deplored Russia's aggression against Ukraine. India’s abstention was in accordance with what the government has explained as the country’s consistent position that allows it to reach out to both sides to find a solution to the conflict through diplomacy and dialogue.  The 193-member General Assembly Wednesday voted to reaffirm its commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders and "deplores in the strongest terms" Russia's aggression against Ukraine. The resolution was adopted with 141 votes in favour, five Member States voting against and 35 abstentions. Read More

  Vladimir Zelensky, the President of Ukraine, has accused the West of leaving his country alone after Russia launched a special military operation in the Donbass region on Thursday. Addressing the Ukrainians in the early hours of Friday, Zelensky said that his country had to defend itself on its own "no matter how many conversations" he has had with the leaders of other countries till now. "I heard a few things. The first is that we are supported. And I am grateful to each state that helps Ukraine specifically. Not just words," said Zelensky in his address after the end of the first day of Russia's operation. "But there is another - we are left alone in defence of our state. Who is ready to fight with us? I do not see such. Who is ready to guarantee Ukraine's accession to NATO? Everyone is afraid," he added. Also Read:  Ukraine crisis: PM Modi speaks to Russian President Putin, appeals for an immediate cessation of violence Visibly shaken by the d

  The rising geopolitical tension after Russia announced a military operation in Ukraine has already pushed up global oil prices. On Thursday, Brent crude futures crossed $100 per barrel mark – the highest since 2014. On February 1, the price was less than $90 a barrel. Higher oil prices will affect global recovery. India, which imports more than 80 per cent of its oil requirements, is carefully monitoring the situation as an increase in prices would have a direct impact on the country’s inflation even as New Delhi imports oil and gas imports from Russia is not much due to the high transportation costs. That apart, Russia supplies heavy crude which the Indian refineries cannot process. Read More

  While war clouds are apparently hovering over a segment of the Russia-Ukraine border, threatening a broader conflict, Dr. Valentin Yakushik, a Professor at the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, Kiev tells geopolitical analyst Aditi Bhaduri that “there will be no war now between Russia and Ukraine”. In a freewheeling interview, exclusively with India Narrative, Dr. Yakushik also discusses the role of the United States in the crisis and prospects of peace. Excerpts of the interview: Walk us through what the current situation is like on the Russian-Ukrainian border.   The situation at the Russian-Ukrainian border now is “as usual” – quite peaceful. One can see a lot of people moving from one country to another. Trade is “as usual”; people, cars, buses, trucks and freight waggons go back and forth, though under some restrictive measures (on both sides) connected with the declared “COVID-19 pandemic”, and taking into account that the Ukrainian side has sto