Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday conveyed to Russian President Vladimir Putin that India stands ready to provide all possible cooperation towards ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict and that dialogue and diplomacy is the only way to bring peace to the region.
In the talks held on the sidelines of the Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS) summit, Modi also apprised Putin about his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Indian side also pressed Russia for early discharge of the remaining Indian nationals recruited as support staff in the Russian military.
In his televised opening remarks, the prime minister conveyed to the Russian leader that New Delhi 'fully supports' the early return of peace and stability in the region.
Modi also said that his second visit to Russia in the last three months reflected 'close' coordination and 'deep trust' between the two countries.
"We are in constant touch on the issue of ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. As I said earlier, we believe that problems should be resolved in a peaceful manner," the prime minister said.
"We fully support the early return of peace and stability. All our efforts give priority to humanity. India is ready to provide all possible cooperation in times to come," he said.
"We have the opportunity to discuss all these issues," he added.
At a media briefing, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the two leaders also shared perspectives on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
"Prime Minister Modi reiterated that dialogue and diplomacy was the way forward to achieve resolution of the conflict. He briefed President Putin about his engagements with the Ukrainian leadership and noted that India stood ready to contribute to bringing peace to the region," he said.
Misri said the issue of the discharge of Indian nationals working in the Russian military also figured in the talks.
"An important issue that came up was the issue of early discharge of the remaining Indian nationals from the Russian military."
"We understand that currently the Indian embassy is pursuing around 20 cases with the Russian side and we very much hope that all of these individuals can be released at an early date and be repatriated to India very soon," Misri said.
In his opening remarks at the meeting, Putin noted the 'good condition' of trade turnover between Russia and India.
In his comments, Modi also referred to his summit talks with the Russian leader in Moscow in July.
Our annual summit resulted in strengthening cooperation in every field, he said.
The prime minister also congratulated Putin on Russia's successful presidency of BRICS.
Many countries want to join the grouping now, he added.
"It is a matter of great pleasure for me to have the opportunity to visit a beautiful city like Kazan for the BRICS summit. India has deep and historical ties with this city," Modi said.
"The opening of India's new embassy in Kazan will further strengthen these ties," he added.
It is learnt that the Ukraine conflict figured prominently at the meeting.
In the summit talks on July 9 in Moscow, Modi told Putin that a solution to the Ukraine conflict is not possible on the battlefield and peace efforts do not succeed amid bombs and bullets.
Weeks later he travelled to Ukraine.
In his talks with Zelenskyy, Modi said both Ukraine and Russia should sit together without wasting time to end the ongoing war and that India was ready to play an 'active role' to restore peace in the region.
India has maintained the conflict in Ukraine must be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.
