India's Strategic Role in the Ukraine Peace Process and the BRICS Summit

Gist Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently reiterated India's call for a diplomatic resolution to the Ukraine war during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. This push coincides with renewed American mediation efforts, signaling a potential shift towards a negotiated endgame after years of prolonged conflict. For UPSC aspirants, this highlights India's strategic positioning at the upcoming New Delhi BRICS Summit, where it must navigate the presence of belligerent states while advocating for the economic and energy security of the Global South. Background The Russia-Ukraine war has severely disrupted global supply chains, imposing massive collateral costs on developing nations through energy inflation, food insecurity, and rising sovereign debt. American-led diplomatic efforts to end the war, formalized under the Alaska process of 2025 , had previously lost momentum as Washington's geopolitical focus temporarily shifted toward the West Asian theatre involving Iran. Traditionally, India has maintained strategic autonomy regarding the conflict, prioritizing its own national energy security by continuing to purchase Russian oil while consistently asserting that "this is not an era of war" and offering diplomatic facilitation only if requested by…