India and the US have discussed efforts to achieve a “just and durable peace in Ukraine” as well as a ceasefire and humanitarian assistance in Gaza, according to a press release from Washington's embassy. The talks were held in New Delhi in a 2+2 format, which involved officials from India’s Defense and Foreign Affairs ministry and the US State and Defense Departments respectively.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs said the discussions covered “bilateral strategic and defense priorities, alongside regional and global issues.”
The meeting was meant to lay the groundwork for the next 2+2 ministerial-level talks that will involve the participation of India's defense and foreign ministers and their US counterparts. The last such meeting was held in November 2023.
The development comes weeks after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Ukraine to discuss measures to resolve the conflict. Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has urged Modi to host a peace conference in his country, according to a Bloomberg report citing unnamed sources.
Modi has attended talks with both Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, where he publicly reiterated India’s approach to resolving the conflict through “dialogue and diplomacy.” However, the optics of the Indian leader’s visit to Moscow, held while Washington was hosting Zelensky for a NATO conference, reportedly perturbed Biden administration officials.
In July, US State Department spokesperson Margaret MacLeod revealed that Washington wants India to use its “special partnership” with Russia to put “pressure” on Moscow amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and work for a durable peace in the region. Earlier this year, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller urged India to make it “clear” to Moscow that any resolution to the conflict in Ukraine needs to respect the country’s “territorial integrity and “sovereignty.”
Despite intense scrutiny from the West, India has maintained close diplomatic ties with Moscow. India has emphasized that the war cannot be won on the battlefield and insists that peace talks must involve both Russia and Ukraine.
An Indian delegation attended this year’s Swiss-hosted Ukraine conference, which focused on Zelensky’s ‘peace formula’. However, New Delhi declined to sign the final communiqué due to the absence of Russia in the discussions.
Russian President Putin recently stated that India is one of the few nations he is in constant contact with regarding the Ukraine issue, as they are “sincerely making efforts” to resolve it.