Key Takeaways
- PM Modi’s visit to Ukraine is a significant step in India’s efforts to play a peacemaker role in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
- The visit will help consolidate and expand bilateral ties between India and Ukraine.
- India believes that dialogue and diplomacy are the keys to resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Kyiv/New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday arrived in Kyiv, in the first ever prime ministerial visit from India to Ukraine. The visit comes amid expectations of India playing peacemaker in the dragging Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The PM posted on X that he was accorded a rousing welcome by the Indian community on his arrival.
“Reached Kyiv earlier this morning. The Indian community accorded a very warm welcome.”
The MEA spokesperson posted:
“PM @narendramodi arrived in Kyiv this morning on a landmark official visit.
“This is the first-ever visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Ukraine since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.”
In early July, PM Modi was in Moscow, where he held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two leaders exchanged warm hugs, a gesture that raised eyebrows in the West.
India has maintained a balance in its ties with Russia and the US, and has been unwilling to budge to Western pressure over its close and long ties with Moscow.
PM Modi has been in talks with the leaders of both Ukraine and Russia in an attempt to make both sides see reason and call off hostilities.
India believes that a resolution to the conflict can’t be found on the battlefield. Instead, dialogue and diplomacy are the keys to resolving the issue.
The Prime Minister’s engagements in Kyiv will touch a range of aspects of bilateral ties including political, trade, economic, investments, education, cultural, people-to-people exchanges, humanitarian assistance and others. He will also interact with Indian community, including students during the visit. PM’s landmark visit to Ukraine will help further consolidation and expansion of bilateral ties.
