Prime Minister Narendra Modi, China’s Xi Jinping, and other BRICS leaders on Wednesday discussed the war in Ukraine with President Vladimir Putin as the Kremlin chief chaired a major summit aimed at showing Western attempts to isolate Russia have failed.

India supports dialogue and diplomacy and not war, PM Modi said at the BRICS Summit, in an unambiguous message calling for resolution of the Russia-Ukraine conflict through peaceful negotiations.

Putin, whose administration has dismissed allegations of war crimes against him as politically motivated, kicked off the Summit on Wednesday by noting the strong interest from over 30 States in joining the BRICS group.

He emphasised the importance of maintaining a balance in any expansion, acknowledging the unprecedented interest from countries in the Global South and East while ensuring that it does not diminish the effectiveness of BRICS.

“The world has entered a new period of turbulent change. We need to build a peaceful BRICS, and be the guardian of common security,” said Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Summit.

On the Ukraine crisis, Jinping said, “We need to push for the situation to de-escalate as soon as possible.” He also expressed his concern over the crisis in Gaza, saying, “We need to push for a ceasefire.”

PM Modi emphasised the need for a people-centric approach to solving global challenges and called for reformed multilateralism. The PM underlined the importance of dialogue and diplomacy for global peace and stability.

Addressing the summit in Kazan, a Russian city along the Volga, Europe’s longest river, Putin also reiterated the group’s focus on discussing acute regional conflicts, alluding to the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine.

Russia, heavily reliant on oil exports, sees China and India as major buyers, with the two countries responsible for about 90% of Moscow’s oil sales, making it Russia’s largest foreign currency source.

In a public exchange, Prime Minister Modi expressed his desire for peace in Ukraine to Putin, while Chinese President Xi discussed the Ukrainian conflict privately with the Russian leader.

As Russia continues its advancement, it currently controls a significant portion of Ukraine, including Crimea, unilaterally annexed in 2014, as well as a substantial portion of the Donbas region, comprising Donetsk and Luhansk, along with parts of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.

Putin has reiterated that Moscow will not negotiate the status of these regions, claiming them as part of Russia and emphasising the need to consider Russia’s long-term security interests in Europe.

The anticipated BRICS communique is expected to include proposals from China and Brazil aimed at resolving the conflict in Ukraine, with the two countries seeking support for a ceasefire from other developing nations. Ukraine has accused Beijing and Brasília of aligning with Moscow’s interests.

Putin has acknowledged the potential of the Chinese-Brazilian proposals as a basis for ending the conflict, following Russia’s deployment of troops into Ukraine in 2022 after years of fighting in the eastern part of the country.

A drone was launched towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in the Israeli town of Caesarea on Saturday, days after Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed.

On Saturday morning, Israel sounded sirens warning of an incoming drone launched from Lebanon towards Prime Minister Netanyahu’s residence in Caesarea. Fortunately, neither he nor his wife were home and no casualties were reported.

Israel’s military announced that 55 projectiles were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel in two separate barrages. The army stated that some “of these projectiles” were intercepted, and no immediate casualties were reported.

Israel also reported that it had killed Hezbollah’s deputy commander in the southern town of Bint Jbeil. The army stated that Nasser Rashid supervised attacks against Israel.

Another air strike in Lebanon near Beirut struck a vehicle on a main highway, resulting in the deaths of two people. It was unclear who was in the car.

The conflict between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas supported by Iran, has escalated in recent weeks. Hezbollah has announced plans to intensify the fighting, mentioning sending more guided missiles and exploding drones into Israel.

The leader of the militant group, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in late September, after which Israel deployed ground troops into Lebanon earlier this month.

In addition to the situation with Hezbollah, a standoff is also ongoing between Israel and Hamas, which is battling in Gaza. Both parties are signaling resistance to ending the conflict after the recent death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

Regarding Iran’s involvement, its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stated that despite the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, Hamas would continue its fight against Israel. He mentioned that Hamas had endured the killings of other Palestinian militant leaders and emphasised that Hamas would persist due to its resilience.

Last month, Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched a ballistic missile towards Ben Gurion Airport when Prime Minister Netanyahu’s plane was landing. The missile was intercepted.

Amid an escalation stand off between India and Canada, the Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said that Canada failed to act on India’s request seeking extradition of Lawrence Bishnoi gang members.

Addressing in a press briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that similar extradition requests of syndicates linked to the Bishnoi gang were made recently as well, but Canada has not responded yet.

The Ministry also furnished names of Gurjit Singh, Gurjinder Singh, Arshdeep Singh Gill, Lakhbir Singh Landa, Gurpreet Singh for extradition, stating that the members of the Bishnoi gang were among them.

Randhir Jaiswal said that the MEA had informed Canada about the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and its syndicates and requested their provisional arrest and extradition some years back, and also recently. Nonetheless, there has been no response from Canada so far, he continued.

The MEA spokesperson also reiterated that Canada did not share any evidence in connection with the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. He stated that India has made their position very clear on this particular matter. He added that since September 2023, the Canadian government has not shared any shred of information with the MEA.

He said that Canada always brought forth freedom of speech as their argument whenever India sought action against anti-India and separatist elements.

Notably, the government’s statement came a day after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau named gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who was earlier mentioned by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for being involved in the murder of Nijjar in September last year.

Justin Trudeau alleged that Indian diplomats were collecting information on Canadians and passing it to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. While testifying before the country’s foreign interference inquiry, Justin Trudeau claimed that the Canadian agencies tried to work behind the scenes with India before he came out with the allegation in NIjjar killings.

In the same testimony, Justin Trudeau also acknowledged that his government only provided intelligence and no proof to India over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil.

India-Canada diplomatic relations worsened earlier this week when Canada announced that top Indian diplomats in Ottawa were persons of interest, as far as its investigation into Nijjar’s killing was concerned. In retaliation, India dismissed Canada’s stand, and recalled six of its top diplomats from Canada, including High Commissioner Sanjay Verma.