India persuaded Russia to avert nuclear strike against Ukraine: Report

India reportedly played a key role in averting a potential catastrophe in 2022 as the United States started “preparing rigorously” for a potential nuclear strike by Russia against Ukraine.

A CNN report citing two senior US administration officials stated that outreach from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other countries also played an important role in averting the crisis.

The US administration led by President Joe Biden was specifically concerned Russia might use a tactical or battlefield nuclear weapon, the officials said.

Amid the fears, the US sought to enlist the help of non-allies including India, to discourage Russia from such an attack, as reported by CNN.

“One of the things we did was not only message them directly but strongly urge, press, encourage other countries, to whom they might be more attentive, to do the same thing,” the senior administration official said.

US officials say that outreach and public statements from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others helped avert a crisis.

“I think we believe showing the international community the concern about this, particularly the concern from key countries for Russia and the Global South, was also a helpful, persuasive factor and showed them what the cost of all this could be,” CNN quoted a senior administration official as saying.