Kremlin says PM Modi, Xi offered Putin their 'good offices' to help end Ukraine war
On the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, the Indian and Chinese leadership separately conveyed to the Russian side their readiness to extend "good offices" toward a resolution of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, according to a Kremlin statement.
The Russian side briefed both delegations on its assessment of the conflict and stated it welcomed any country using its influence to encourage a more flexible negotiating position from Ukraine.
The exchanges took place through bilateral meetings held during the summit, distinct from the plenary BRICS sessions and the New Delhi Declaration text, which this year did not include specific language on the Ukraine conflict.
Both India and China have maintained economic and diplomatic engagement with Russia through the war while publicly calling for a negotiated, peaceful settlement — a position reiterated in these exchanges.
"Good Offices" as a Mode of Pacific Settlement of Disputes
"Good offices" is a recognised diplomatic technique for peaceful dispute settlement in which a third party facilitates communication and encourages direct negotiation between disputing parties, without itself participating in the substantive talks or proposing binding terms — distinguishing it from "mediation," where the third party is actively involved in shaping a settlement.
Key Details
- Chapter VI of the UN Charter (Articles 33-38), titled "Pacific Settlement of Disputes," lists negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, and judicial settlement as accepted peaceful methods; "good offices" is not named explicitly in Article 33's text but is a well-established customary diplomatic practice operating within the same chapter's spirit.
- A state or organisation offering "good offices" typically limits its role to bringing parties to the table (arranging venues, communication channels, or informal facilitation) — a lower-commitment diplomatic gesture than formal mediation.
- Historic examples of Indian good-offices-style diplomacy include its role in the 1965 and 1971 India-Pakistan conflict aftermaths and various multilateral fora, reflecting a long-standing element of India's foreign-policy toolkit.
By offering "good offices" rather than proposing a specific settlement, the Indian and Chinese leaderships signalled willingness to facilitate dialogue on the Ukraine conflict without committing either country to a substantive negotiating role or an outcome — a calibrated diplomatic gesture consistent with both countries' stated neutrality on the conflict.
India's Strategic Autonomy and Multi-Alignment Doctrine
Strategic autonomy is India's foreign-policy principle of preserving independent decision-making capacity rather than binding itself to any single power bloc, rooted historically in Jawaharlal Nehru's non-alignment policy and updated in the post-Cold War era into what analysts term "multi-alignment" — simultaneous engagement with multiple, sometimes rival, powers and blocs.
Extending "good offices" on Ukraine while maintaining active engagement with Russia, the West, and China simultaneously illustrates India's multi-alignment approach — engaging all sides of a conflict to preserve credibility as a potential facilitator rather than aligning with any single bloc's position.
- Non-Aligned Movement founded: 1961, Belgrade Summit; India a founding member alongside Egypt, Indonesia, Ghana, and Yugoslavia.
- Panchsheel (Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence): agreed 1954, between India and China, later adopted as NAM's philosophical foundation.
- UN Charter Chapter VI (Pacific Settlement of Disputes): Articles 33-38, covering negotiation, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, and (by custom) good offices.
- The New Delhi Declaration (adopted 12 September 2026, 18th BRICS Summit) did not include specific language naming the Russia-Ukraine conflict, unlike some earlier BRICS declarations.