Indian troops might have participated in a "peacekeeping" operation in Ukraine.
According to a new book, US Vice President JD Vance made this suggestion in January of last year as part of a larger effort to impose a ceasefire with Russia, but President Donald Trump rejected it.
The New York Times journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan's book Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump claims that on January 30, ten days after Trump took office, he met Vance and senior officials in the Oval Office.Trump's two statements that "I'll have it solved within one day" and "within 24 hours that war will be settled" contributed to his election to a second term. The purpose of the conference, which Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg (retd), the special envoy for Russia and Ukraine, also attended, was to determine the US's role in putting an end to the conflict.
The British, French, and Dutch were to provide peacekeeping forces as part of Kellogg's "Trump's Historic Peace Deal" plan.
Vance, however, disagreed with the deployment of NATO members. He warned that it might incite Russia, which had expressed mistrust of the bloc. In fact, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov declared that NATO forces would be "completely unacceptable" just one week prior."Are there troops from other countries (i.e., outside Europe) that could serve this purpose?" Vance then inquired, according to Haberman and Swan. Then, according to reports, Vance recommended India. According to the book, Trump laughed. He mentioned his connection with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and stated, "The Indians won't do that... won't pay for something like that."
The Indian government, on its part, has consistently called for an end to the conflict in Ukraine and a friendly dialogue to settle all disputes.President Trump and Prime Minister Modi met in Washington, D.C. in February 2025.Days had passed since the White House meeting described in the book.

Although Congress MP Shashi Tharoor raised the issue two months later, the Indian government never formally addressed the issue of sending peacekeeping personnel.
He proposed in April that Delhi may send a small force if and when Trump's promised truce was declared. At a private gathering in Delhi, he stated, "Look beyond Europe for your peacekeeping... this is where India could come in."
The Indian military regularly participates in peacekeeping missions. It has really worked with the UN in South Sudan, Somalia, Lebanon, and other conflict-affected nations during the previous ten years, giving it a wealth of experience.