Why India avoided signing joint document on Ukraine at Swiss summit

India was among the countries that did not sign a joint communique at a Switzerland-hosted summit for peace in Ukraine on Sunday (June 16) as New Delhi called for “sincere and practical engagement” between Moscow and Kyiv for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Pavan Kapoor, Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), represented India at the summit in the Swiss resort of Burgenstock. Delegates from more than 100 countries and organisations, including several heads of state, attended the summit. Russia was not invited, while China decided not to attend it.

India’s position

India said it did not associate itself with any communique or document emerging from the summit, asserting only those options acceptable to both parties can lead to abiding peace.

In a brief address, the senior Indian diplomat said New Delhi’s participation in the summit and several earlier meetings of senior officials based on Ukraine’s peace formula was in line with “our clear and consistent approach that enduring peace can be achieved only through dialogue and diplomacy”.

“We continue to believe that such a peace requires bringing together all stakeholders and a sincere and practical engagement between the two parties to the conflict,” he said. “Accordingly, we will continue to engage with all stakeholders, as well as the two parties to the conflict, to contribute to all earnest efforts to achieve lasting peace in Ukraine,” Kapoor said.

Need for “sustainable resolution”

The senior diplomat said India’s participation in the summit and continued engagement with all stakeholders is aimed at understanding different perspectives, approaches and options to find a way forward for a “sustainable resolution of the conflict”.

“In our view, only those options acceptable to both the parties can lead to abiding peace. In line with this approach, we have decided to avoid association with the joint communique or any other document emerging from this summit,” he noted.

The key objective of the Summit on Peace in Ukraine that concluded on Sunday was to inspire a future peace process.

The Indian delegation attended the opening and closing plenary sessions of the summit.

“Dialogue and diplomacy”

In his remarks, Kapoor said India deemed it “important to join the gathering that seeks to explore the way forward to a negotiated settlement of a very complex and pressing issue”.

“India shares the global concern over the situation in Ukraine and supports any collective desire to facilitate a peaceful resolution of the conflict,” he said.

“India’s participation in the Summit on Peace in Ukraine, as well as in the preceding NSA/Political-Director level meetings based on Ukraine’s Peace Formula, is in line with our clear and consistent approach that enduring peace can be achieved only through dialogue and diplomacy,” Kapoor added.

83 states, organisations approve communique

In the joint communique issued at the end of the Peace Summit, the signatories reaffirmed their commitment to “refraining from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state” and the principles of sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of all states, including Ukraine, within their internationally recognised borders.

A Swiss foreign ministry statement said 83 states and organisations approved the joint communique at the end of the “High-Level Conference on Peace in Ukraine”.

“We believe that reaching peace requires the involvement of and dialogue between all parties. We, therefore, decided to undertake concrete steps in the future in the above-mentioned areas with further engagement of the representatives of all parties,” the joint communique said.

What Zelenskyy said

At the summit, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy sought support for his 10-point peace plan that he first outlined in 2022.

“The peace formula is inclusive, and we are happy to hear and work on all proposals, all ideas of what is really needed for peace and what is important to you dear friends,” Zelenskyy said.

“I urge you to be as active as possible and I am proud all parts of the world, all continents are now represented at the peace summit,” he said.

The peace summit was built on the previous discussions that have taken place based on Ukraine’s Peace Formula and other peace proposals.

Need for “human-centric” approach

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday met the Ukrainian president on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy’s Apulia.

In the talks, Modi conveyed to Zelenskyy that India would continue to do everything within its means to support a peaceful solution to the Ukraine conflict and that the way to peace is through “dialogue and diplomacy”.

The prime minister also told the president that India believes in a “human-centric” approach.

“The prime minister conveyed that India continues to encourage peaceful resolution of the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy, and reiterated that India would continue to do everything within its means to support a peaceful solution,” the MEA said after the meeting.

India yet to condemn invasion

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on multiple occasions.

India has not yet condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and it has been maintaining that the crisis must be resolved through diplomacy and dialogue.

(With agency inputs)