Delhi's first statement in the UN Security Council (UNSC) did not name any country directly but it said it regretted that calls from the international community to give diplomacy and dialogue a chance had not been heeded.
It, however, stopped short of criticising Russia. And before the UNSC voted on a draft UN resolution to condemn the invasion, Delhi faced calls from Russia, the US and Ukraine "to do the right thing".
Ukraine and Russia even issued public appeals for Delhi to take a clear stand. India chose to abstain from the vote but a careful reading of its statement suggests that it did go a step further and indirectly asked Moscow to respect international law.
India talked about the importance of "the UN Charter, international law, and respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states", adding that "all member states need to honour these principles in finding a constructive way forward".
Delhi continued with its strategy as it chose to abstain when the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to demand an immediate end to the invasion of Ukraine.
The third abstention was followed by calls from senior officials in Washington to India to "take a clear position".
India's strategy has raised questions, particularly in the West, over whether the world's largest democracy should have taken a clearer stand.
Former Indian diplomat JN Misra says India "has bad and worse options to pick from".
"One can't tilt both ways at the same time. India has not named any country, which shows it won't go against Moscow. India had to be subtle in picking a side and it has done that," he adds.
There are several reasons for India's quest to find a diplomatic balance over Ukraine.
The most important are India's time-tested defence and diplomatic ties with Moscow.
Russia continues to be India's largest arms supplier even though its share has dropped to 49% from 70% due to India's decision to diversify its portfolio and boost domestic defence manufacturing.
Also, Russia is supplying equipment like the S-400 missile defence system which gives India crucial strategic deterrence against China and Pakistan, and that is the reason why it went ahead with the order despite threats of looming US sanctions.
Moreover, it's hard for Delhi to overlook decades of history of diplomatic co-operation with Russia on several issues. Moscow has vetoed UNSC resolutions over disputed Kashmir in the past to help India keep it a bilateral issue.
In this context, India appears to be following its famed strategy of non-alignment and promoting dialogue to resolve issues.
Michael Kugelman, deputy director at think tank the Wilson Center, says India's stand is not surprising as it's consistent with its past strategy.
He adds that Delhi doesn't "seem comfortable with what is happening in Ukraine but it's not likely to change its stand".
"It simply can't afford to do so at the moment because of its defence and geopolitical needs," he says. Though he adds that Delhi has chosen some strong words in the UNSC to show it's not comfortable with the situation in Ukraine.
India also has the tough task of trying to evacuate 20,000 citizens, mostly students, from Ukraine.
Former Indian diplomat Anil Triguniyat, who served in Moscow and also in Libya where he oversaw the evacuation of Indian citizens when conflict broke out in 2011, says safety assurances are needed from all parties in a conflict to run a successful evacuation operation.
"India can't take a side at the risk of endangering the safety of its citizens. Moreover, it's seeing the holistic picture which involves keeping channels open with everyone," he adds.
India has been able to get help both from Ukraine and Russia to evacuate its citizens, specially from the heavily hit Kharkiv city. It still has hundreds of citizens, mostly students, stuck in Ukraine and it will continue to seek cooperation from all sides.
In that sense, India is in a unique position as it's one of the few countries which has good relations both with Washington and Moscow.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has held talks with officials in Washington.
Mr Modi has also held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Mr Triguniyat says India has done well in keeping diplomatic channels open with both sides.
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