PM Modi in Ukraine: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv as part of his historic visit to the war-torn country. PM Modi hugged Zelenskyy and had his hand on his shoulder, as the Ukrainian President turned visibly emotional as they honoured the memory of fallen children at the Martyrologist Exposition at the Ukrainian capital ahead of their high-level talks, where all eyes would on Modi's stance on the Russia-Ukraine war.
This is the first such high-level visit from India since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and comes over a month after Modi met Russian President Vladimir Putin, a visit criticised by Zelenskyy. The Prime Minister disembarked from the Train Force One in Kyiv after a 10-hour train journey from Poland and greeted Ukrainian officials and the Indian diaspora.
"Reached Kyiv earlier this morning. The Indian community accorded a very warm welcome," he wrote on X. The PM's engagements in Ukraine will touch upon a range of aspects of bilateral ties including political, trade, economic, investments, education, cultural, people-to-people exchanges, humanitarian assistance and others. India will seek to re-assert its position of dialogue and diplomacy for an early resolution of the conflict.
After his arrival in Kyiv, PM Modi also paid floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi. His trip in Ukraine is expected to last roughly seven hours, after which he will depart via Train Force One, which will take the same time as it took him to arrive from Poland.
Why PM Modi's visit to Ukraine is significant?
Most eyes would be on PM Modi's visit to Kyiv, which comes over a month after his trip to arch-nemesis Russia, where both sides sought to boost bilateral trade and cooperation in areas ranging from nuclear energy to medicine. Modi would become the first Indian leader ever to visit Ukraine after diplomatic relations were established in 1992 to renew his position that only dialogue and diplomacy would resolve the conflict.
His talks with Zelenskyy, with the ongoing conflict at the top of the agenda, will be closely watched by the US and Russia as PM Modi has hinted at a possible Indian role for an early resolution of the conflict. The visit also makes PM Modi one of the few leaders of the world who have visited both Russia and Ukraine over two years since the war broke out.
"The ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and West Asia are a deep concern for all of us. India firmly believes that no conflict can be resolved on the battlefield. The loss of innocent lives in any crisis has become the greatest challenge for all of humanity. We support dialogue and diplomacy for the swift restoration of peace and stability. For this, India is ready to provide all possible cooperation in conjunction with its friendly countries." he said at a press conference in Warsaw alongside Polish PM Donald Tusk.
By visiting Poland and Ukraine, PM Modi is also hinting at expanding India's relations with Europe. PM Modi had earlier said in Poland that India's policy now is to maintain closer relations with all countries as part of its push to become "Vishwabandhu", disentangling New Delhi from its old relations with Russia and forging closer ties with European nations.
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