India opt out of Ukraine declaration

Closing press conference during the Summit on Peace in Ukraine (Photo credit: Getty Images)

June 17, 2024

India on Sunday opted out of the Ukraine declaration adopted at the two-day Summit on Peace in Ukraine.

Saudi Arabia, India, South Africa, Thailand, Indonesia, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates were among countries participating at a summit on peace for Ukraine that did not sign a final communique, the Swiss government said.

Switzerland, which hosted the summit, said over 90 countries took part in the talks, and the vast majority of them signed up to the communique, according to a list which the Swiss organizers posted at the close of proceedings.

Brazil, which was listed as an “observer” on the list of attendees, also did not feature as a signatory.

New Delhi argued that both Ukraine and Russia should be on the table for any peace initiative to succeed. “In our view, only those options acceptable to both parties can lead to abiding peace. In line with this approach, we have decided to avoid association with a joint communique or any other document emerging from this summit,” Pavan Kapoor, Secretary (West) at the Ministry of External Affairs, said.

The final document also called for all prisoners of war to be released in a “complete exchange” and for all Ukrainian children who had been “deported and unlawfully displaced” to be returned to Ukraine. Working groups at the summit also addressed the issues of global food security and nuclear safety. And the countries also called for Ukraine to have “full sovereign control” over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Sunday dismissed a peace proposal presented by Russian president Vladimir Putin as unreasonable, saying meeting Moscow’s demands would make Kyiv even more vulnerable to further aggression. “Not only does Ukraine have to give up the territory that Russia currently occupies but Ukraine has to leave additional sovereign Ukrainian territory,” Sullivan said at the peace summit.

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