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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands during the G7 leaders’ summit in Hiroshima, Japan May 20, 2023. (Reuters)
PM Modi’s historic visit to Kyiv aims to discuss peace efforts with President Zelenskyy amid the Ukraine conflict and improve diplomatic ties
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit wartime Kyiv for talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday, the first trip by an Indian prime minister to Ukraine since the country became independent in 1991.
The Prime Minister on Thursday left for a historic visit to Ukraine after concluding his two-day “productive” trip to Poland during which he held wide-ranging talks with the Polish leadership. Modi, who is visiting Ukraine at the invitation of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has said that he will share with the Ukrainian leader perspectives on peaceful resolution of the ongoing conflict.
The visit comes at a volatile juncture in the war in Ukraine, with Ukrainian forces still in Russia’s western Kursk region following their incursion on Aug. 6 and Russian troops grinding out slow but steady advances in Ukraine’s east. The visit, which follows a trip by Modi to Moscow in July, is important for Western-backed Kyiv, which has been trying to nurture diplomatic relations in the Global South in its efforts to secure a fair settlement to end the war.
“I look forward to the opportunity to … share perspectives on peaceful resolution of the ongoing Ukraine conflict,” Modi said before the trip. “As a friend and partner, we hope for an early return of peace and stability in the region.” Modi’s visit to Moscow last month coincided with a heavy Russian missile strike on Ukraine that hit a children’s hospital. The attack prompted Modi to use emotive language to deliver an implicit rebuke to Putin at their summit.
India, which has traditionally had close economic and defence ties with Moscow, has publicly criticised the deaths of innocent people in the war. But it has also strengthened its economic ties with Moscow after Western nations imposed sanctions on Russia and cut trade relations with it over its invasion. Indian refiners which rarely bought Russian oil in the past have emerged as Moscow’s top clients for seaborne oil since Russia poured troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Russian oil accounts for over two-fifths of India’s oil imports.
Ukraine has said it hopes to bring together a second international summit later this year to advance its vision of peace and involve representatives from Russia.
The first summit in Switzerland that pointedly excluded Russia in June attracted scores of delegations, including one from India, but not from China, the world’s second largest economy.
“Lasting peace can only be achieved through options that are acceptable to both parties. And it can only be a negotiated settlement,” Tanmaya Lal, Secretary (West) in the Indian foreign ministry, told reporters. “This is an important visit that is expected to catalyze our ties in a whole range of sectors,” Lal said, listing economic and business links, agriculture, infrastructure, health and education, pharmaceuticals, defence and culture.
(With agency inputs)
