‘Jaishankar Would Have Explored Every Aspect Of India Russia Ties’

NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s visit to Moscow last week would have been an opportunity to update himself on the Ukraine war, specifically how the Russians see it and whether peace is on the horizon. In this chat on The Gist, Ambassador Pankaj Saran, head of the Natstrat thinktank and former deputy national security adviser, believes the Russians have achieved whatever they wanted territorially, and while President Putin has indicated he is ready for peace (on his terms of course), the Ukrainians are not playing. Saran argues that the bitterness provoked by the war has rendered ties between Moscow on the one hand, the US and Europe on the other, virtually irreparable. It has brought China very close to Russia, a point which India is not comfortable with. In other words, Jaishankar’s visit would have underscored the geopolitical churn the war has triggered, including the economic disruption and dislocation with great impact on the Global South. Tune in for more in this conversation with Ambassador Pankaj Saran.