INDIA PERSPECTIVE

New Delhi is following the Trump-Putin call with the interest of a country that has stakes in both issues discussed. Times of India notes that the 90-minute call covered Iran and Ukraine simultaneously — two conflicts from which India directly suffers the effects: the Iran war has spiked fuel prices (Times of India documents a decline in Trump approval ratings linked precisely to energy inflation), and the Ukraine war disrupts cereal and fertilizer exports on which India depends.

Indian balancing diplomacy allows it to have open channels with Moscow, Washington, and Kyiv simultaneously — a unique position that explains its restraint in public comments on the war. NDTV reports the facts without strong editorial: a call took place, a ceasefire was mentioned, Ukraine was not represented. The implicit conclusion is that any peace signal is better than nothing, for an economy suffering from imported inflation from both wars.

New Delhi abstained at the UN on resolutions condemning Russia since 2022. This neutrality posture gives it legitimacy to speak to all parties — and an objective interest in the war ending on terms that do not compromise its relations with Moscow.