Did PM Modi help avert Russia's nuclear attack on Ukraine? Here's what Jaishankar has to say

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on Saturday for the first time addressed a CNN report that said Prime Minister Narendra Modi played a key role in preventing a nuclear attack by Russia on Ukraine back in 2022.

Speaking at the India Today Conclave 2024, Jaishankar said that since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, "there have been a number of issues we have been involved in. We haven't been very public and explicit about them."

When questioned about averting a nuclear attack, the External Affairs Minister said that India has been continuously doing everything to reduce tension.

"We have been continuously doing what we have been doing to reduce tension and avoid events that do not make things worsen."

In 2022, during the Russia-Ukraine conflict, US officials were preparing for a potential nuclear strike by Moscow on Kyiv, according to a CNN report. The report suggests that outreach from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other nations helped prevent a possible crisis.

He added that in many cases, one or the other party or a third party or an international organisation asked India to weigh in on in some form.

"And if we believe that doing so was helpful, ideally at this time, I would say, frankly, that the world wants the conflict to end. But it is not something that anybody is expecting in the near term," Jaishankar said. 

The Biden administration was concerned about the potential use of a tactical or battlefield nuclear weapon by Russia. To discourage Russia from launching such an attack, the US sought assistance from non-allies, including India.

US officials believe that public statements from Modi and others played a significant role in averting a crisis. The report also mentions India's consistent stance against civilian killings and its call for a peaceful resolution to the conflict. PM Modi had told President Putin that "this is not the era of war" during the SCO summit in Uzbekistan.

The National Security Council held meetings in late summer to fall 2022 to prepare contingency plans. During this period, Ukrainian forces were advancing on Russian-occupied Kherson, posing a threat to Russian units.

There were fears that Russia could use a "false flag story" about a Ukrainian dirty bomb as a pretext for a nuclear attack. However, there was no evidence of Russia mobilizing its nuclear forces for such an attack, as per the CNN report.