United Nations, August 23. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hopes that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Ukraine will contribute to ending the war, his Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
Asked for a reaction to Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Ukraine amid the war, Dujarric said, “We’ve seen a lot of heads of state and government travel to the region and we hope that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit will bring us closer to an end of the conflict in line with General Assembly resolutions, international law, and the territorial integrity.
Prime Minister Modi visited Ukraine on August 23, where he met President Volodymyr Zelensky. The Kyiv visit follows his trip to Russia last month, where he discussed the Ukraine situation with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin According to reports, he will convey messages between Ukraine and Russia
The General Assembly has demanded an end to the Russian invasion in at least three resolutions and in another to stop attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure. India has abstained on the resolutions
An India-Russia joint statement at the end of Prime Minister Modi’s Moscow visit said that the two leaders “highlighted the imperative of peaceful resolution of the conflict around Ukraine through dialogue and diplomacy including engagement between both parties.
The statement added cryptically, “They noted with appreciation relevant proposals of mediation and good offices aimed at peaceful resolution of the conflict in accordance with international law and on the basis of the UN Charter in its entirety and totality”.
While India has kept up a veneer of neutrality by not voting for the condemnation of Russia’s invasion at the UN, Prime Minister Modi has criticised it. He told Putin at a 2022 meeting in Samarkand in Uzbekistan, “I know that today’s era is not of war and diplomacy and dialogue are all these things that touch the world”
Prime Minister Modi said, “Whether it is war, conflict or a terrorist attack, any person who believes in humanity is pained when there is loss of lives. But even in that, when innocent children are killed, the heart bleeds and that pain is very terrifying.”
Meanwhile Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Ukraine today, August 23 and met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Despite close ties with Russia’s Putin, the Indian leader pledges support for Ukraine and says he brings message of peace.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was welcomed to Ukraine’s capital Kyiv by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the first visit to the country by an Indian prime minister since it gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Zelenskyy embraced Modi before they started talks at the Marinskyi presidential palace, and said the Indian leader’s visit to Ukraine was “very friendly” and “historic”.
The Indian prime minister discussed economic ties and cooperation in defence, science and technology, while also broaching the contentious subject of a settlement to end the war with Russia.
The meeting kicked off with both leaders visiting a memorial commemorating hundreds of Ukrainian children who have been killed during more than two years of war.
The Ukrainian president said on X that he and Modi had honoured “the memory of the children whose lives were taken by Russian aggression”.
Modi, who told Zelenskyy that the killing of children in conflict was not acceptable, said he had come to Ukraine with a message of peace.
“We have stayed away from the war with great conviction. This does not mean that we were indifferent,” he told reporters, while seated alongside Zelenskyy.
“We were not neutral from day one, we have taken a side, and we stand firmly for peace,” he said.
Modi also pledged his country would provide humanitarian support for Ukraine’s conflict with Russia. “India will always stand with you and will go above and beyond to support you,” he said.
He stated his respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, while reiterating India’s position, set out ahead of his visit, that the conflict can be resolved only through dialogue and diplomacy.
Modi’s meeting with Zelenskyy comes a month and a half after he was in Moscow for talks with Putin, a visit that coincided with Russian missile attacks on Ukraine that hit a children’s hospital, which the Indian leader implicitly criticised during the bilateral summit.
‘A Certain Influence’
The visit comes at a crucial juncture in the war, after Ukrainian forces mounted a lightning offensive on Russia’s Kursk region on August 6 while Russian troops continue to make advances in Ukraine’s east.
Still, India has good relations with both Russia and the West, Ukraine’s principal backer, and some analysts believe Modi could play a role in pushing the two sides towards talks.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Modi’s visit to Kyiv was significant because India “really has a certain influence” over Russia.
Peace Summit
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 excluded Russia in June attracted many delegations, including one from India, but not from China.
