India hardens stance on Russian aggression after civilian killings in Ukraine’s Bucha

MOSCOW/NEW DELHI – India has condemned killings in Ukraine's Bucha and called for investigations as it hardened its stance months after refusing to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

New Delhi earlier refused to support United Nations resolutions condemning the invasion; however, the South Asian country has recently condemned the killings of civilians in Bucha, a city in Ukraine's Kyiv Oblast.

India’s permanent representative to the UN, T.S. Tirumurti termed recent reports of civilian killings in Bucha as ‘deeply disturbing'.

He made the statement in his speech shortly after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a telephonic conversation with India’s foreign minister. Reports suggest that Washington pressurized New Delhi to condemn Kremlin’s military advance in Ukraine.

The Indian administration also abstained several times from condemning the invasion on different platforms. 

Modi's government not only stuck to the diplomatic sidelines as the world slaps sanctions against Kremlin, but it also mulled buying Russian oil in Moscow’s time of economic need.

The recent development comes a week after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited India on the first high-level visit since Moscow's military operation against the Eastern European nation.

India remained careful to explain its delicate situation, as it shares decades-old ties with Russia which is its largest defence supplier.

The development comes at a time when civilian dead bodies were found in Bucha after the Russian army retreated from the devastated Ukrainian town.

World leaders expressed horror at the terrible situation in town near Kyiv, where scores of human corpses were spotted on the streets.