Dear Editor,

The continuing war in Ukraine is showing no signs of letting up. Indeed, it is getting more violent and brutal with daily loss of lives not to mention the destruction of property.

The failure to bring an end to this protracted and devastating war is indicative of the challenges faced by the United Nations to arrive at a diplomatic solution to the problem. Diplomacy, it is said, is war by other means. So far there is no indication of shifting the war from the battlefield to the negotiating table.

The war, from all indications, cannot be won by military means. A diplomatic and peaceful resolution is the only sensible way forward. The BRIC countries, in particular India and China, should use their considerable global influence to broker a ‘deal’ which could be satisfactory to both parties. Such a ‘deal’ admittedly, may not be easy to broker given the hardened positions on both sides. 

Yet there is no way in which the war can go on without inflicting severe hardships, not only for the two countries involved in the war but for humanity as a whole. The threat of a nuclear conflagration has never been higher since the Cuban Missile crisis of 1962.

 Both sides to the war will have to make  some concessions in the interest of peace and human progress.  A good ‘deal’, as someone once said, is when both sides to the conflict leave the negotiating table feeling somewhat disappointed.

Yours faithfully,

Hydar Ally