Invite Zelenskyy to Delhi G20 summit

India must take the opportunity accorded by Ukraine's first deputy foreign minister Emine Dzhaparova's visit to invite President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the New Delhi G20 leaders' summit in September. Inviting Zelenskyy is in sync with India's stance on dialogue as solution and the balance it has sought to maintain on the issue. With its G20 presidency, India stands as the voice of the global South. Bringing the war in Ukraine to an end would be in keeping with the needs of developing countries, which have paid a heavier price due to the food and energy crisis.

Dzhaparova's visit is the first ministerial visit since the Russian invasion in February last year. But it is not the first diplomatic engagement. Besides interactions between the leaders, India has been consistently providing Ukraine with broad spectrum humanitarian assistance. Continued assistance and related discussions is on Dzhaparova's Delhi agenda. Ukraine's decision to send a high-ranked minister should be seen as an effort to keep the outreach low key, a move that suits India. What is important is that Kyiv considers India as a country that can broker peace. This vote of confidence is critical given the recent discussions on brokering peace between French President Emmanuel Macron and China's Xi Jinping in Beijing.

India and Ukraine share a common experience of having a naturally antagonistic, big country next door. The difference lies in their respective capacity to resist and contain aggressive expansionism. This, together with the commitment to a rules-based world order and sovereignty of states, should be reason enough to act. India needs to take the bold step, and not miss this opportunity to step up to play a leadership role.