Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Ukraine on August 23, said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
During his daylong visit, Modi will hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the visit. This will be the first time an Indian prime minister will visit Ukraine since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992.
The visit comes in the midst of ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict when both the sides are trying to conflict in their favour. While the Russian forces are pushing forward to capture the strategic city of Pokrovsk, Ukraine has capture more than 1,000 square kilometres of territory inside Ukraine in its ongoing incursion.
Separately, the Ukrainian president’s office said several documents are expected to be signed between the two sides.
Speaking at a press conference in Delhi, Secretary (West) MEA Tanmaya Lal said Modi was visiting Ukraine at the invitation of Zelenskyy.
“This visit will build upon the recent high-level interactions between the leaders,” said Lal, referring to the two leaders’ meeting earlier this year on the sidelines of the G-7 Summit in Italy and last year on the sidelines of the G-7 Summit in Japan.
The visit to Ukraine comes barely weeks after Modi visited Russia in his first official visit in the third term as the Indian premier. The visit was highly criticised in the West as it coincided with deadly Russian waves of attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine, including a children’s hospital.
India’s policy on the ongoing Ukraine conflict has been criticised in the West as India has not outrightly criticised Russia like Western nations. Moreover, India’s continued purchase of Russian oil —which increased after the invasion as the price of Russian crude oil came down— also irked the West. However, India has maintained since the onset that dialogue and diplomacy are the way forward and not war and conflict.
Modi has also been one of the few world leaders who has held regular conversations with both Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has also told Putin publicly that this is not an era of war and that solutions to his concerns cannot be found on the battlefield.
Link to article –
PM Modi to visit Ukraine on August 23, hold talks with Zelenskyy
