The war in Ukraine was high on the agenda in the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar saying India was “willing to do whatever we can” to end the conflict “...because we do think that the continuation of this conflict is terrible, obviously for Ukraine itself and for the world as well.”
The “landmark” visit, the first by an Indian Prime Minister since Ukraine became independent in 1991, saw the signing of four agreements between the two sides.
In his talks with Mr. Zelenskyy, Mr. Modi said India is always ready to play an “active role” to restore peace in Ukraine. “We (India) are not neutral. From the very beginning, we have taken sides. And we have chosen the side of peace,” Mr. Modi said. The Prime Minister underlined India’s commitment towards respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries.
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“Today in Kyiv, PM Narendra Modi and I honored the memory of the children whose lives were taken by Russian aggression. Children in every country deserve to live in safety. We must make this possible,” Mr. Zelenskyy said on X. He later spoke to the visiting Indian media and flagged India’s purchase of Russian oil as well as other goods which are getting “billions for them”. He said India has a “huge influence on Russian economy.”
Mr. Jaishankar said the meeting between the two leaders “was a very detailed very open and a very constructive discussion”. “The Ukraine side wanted continued involvement of India in the peace summit,” he said.
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The four agreements include humanitarian assistance by India for high-capacity development projects, cooperation in agriculture and food industry, cultural cooperation and an agreement on medicines and drugs towards regulation and quality control aspects.
Mr. Modi arrived in Kyiv from Warsaw in the morning on a special train and was welcomed by the Indian community at the hotel. He attended a multimedia exhibition on children who lost their lives in the conflict and placed a toy as a gesture. He paid homage at a statue of Mahatma Gandhi.
The official talks were held at the Mariyinsky palace, the official residence of the Ukraine President which became popular in India after the blockbuster movie RRR and the Oscar-winning song ‘Naatu Naatu’.
As Mr. Modi arrived for the talks and was greeted by Mr. Zelenskyy, they embraced and shook hands. Mr. Modi’s embrace with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a visit to Russia last month drew sharp criticism from Western countries. To a question on the embrace with Mr. Putin, Mr. Jaishankar said that “in our culture we always embrace each other”.
The bilateral talks scheduled for 30 minutes went on for two and a half hours.
The Indian side reiterated its principled position and focus on peaceful resolution through dialogue and diplomacy, as a part of which, India has attended the Summit on Peace in Ukraine, held in Burgenstock, Switzerland, in June, a joint statement issued after the talks said.
“Prime Minister Modi reiterated the need for sincere and practical engagement between all stakeholders to develop innovative solutions that will have broad acceptability and contribute towards early restoration of peace. He reiterated India’s willingness to contribute in all possible ways to facilitate an early return of peace,” the statement said.
Noting that at end of the discussions, there was a sense that this was a complex issue, Mr. Jaishankar said it is the view of India as well that there could be multiple ways of approaching this issue. “The Ukrainian side conveyed that the Joint Communiqué on a Peace Framework, adopted at the Summit on Peace in Ukraine, could serve as a basis for further efforts to promote just peace based on dialogue, diplomacy, and international law,” it stated.
India had attended the peace summit but stayed away from endorsing the joint communique.
India has handed over 10 BHISHM cubes, which contain medical support equipment of 22 tonnes along with 10 generator sets. India has earlier handed over 17 tranches of humanitarian assistance, mostly medicines, to Ukraine.
This was the fourth meeting between the two leaders who also held seven telephonic conversations. In the last engagement in Kyiv, Mr. Modi met Ukrainian students who are studying Hindi.
In the backdrop of the significant reduction in the annual bilateral trade in goods since 2022 due to the ongoing war, Mr. Jaishankar said that the two leaders tasked the Inter-Governmental Commission to rebuild trade which has gone down in recent times. He said they will have an early meeting definitely by end of this year.
Mr. Modi shared the widespread sentiment in the Global South of the repercussions of the war on food security, he added. This was also reflected in the joint statement. “The Leaders appreciated various efforts to ensure global food security, including Ukrainian humanitarian grain initiative. The importance of uninterrupted and unhindered supply of agricultural products to global markets, especially in Asia and Africa, was emphasized,” the statement added.
(With inputs from PTI)
