New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Ukraine in the last week of August. This would be his first trip to the country since its war with Russia began, and would follow the prime minister’s bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow earlier this month.
The news of the tentative visit comes as New Delhi attempts to walk a tightrope between the West and Russia, after the US and its allies reacted furiously over Modi’s Moscow trip. There is no confirmation yet on the final date.
This would be the second meeting between the Indian prime minister and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this year, after the two met on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy in June.
ThePrint reached out to the Ministry of External Affairs via text for a comment, but there was no response.
Earlier this month, Zelenskyy had slammed Modi for hugging Putin, calling it a “disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts”. His remarks came as Modi met with the Russian leader in his first official bilateral trip since assuming office for a third term in June 2024.
In Ukraine today, 37 people were killed, three of whom were children, and 170 were injured, including 13 children, as a result of Russia’s brutal missile strike.
A Russian missile struck the largest children's hospital in Ukraine, targeting young cancer patients. Many were… pic.twitter.com/V1k7PEz2rJ
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 8, 2024
Modi’s visit and the hug had coincided with the bombing of a children’s hospital in Kyiv, which the Ukrainian government blamed Russia for. Moscow had denied the attack and claimed that it was caused by debris from an Ukrainian air defence missile.
Prime Minister Modi has made it clear since his meeting with Putin in 2022 on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, that this is not an era of war. He had reiterated the message during his Moscow trip, saying that solutions cannot be found on the battlefield.
Modi’s bilateral visit also occurred in the same week as the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) summit hosted by the US in Washington D.C. to celebrate 75 years since the founding of the military alliance. NATO countries, such as the US, UK, Germany and France, along with its other European members, have been the biggest supporters of Ukraine through both rebuilding and military aid in its war with Russia.
Kyiv has been lobbying hard for PM Modi to visit the country to signal strong support from the “Global South” countries for its position on the war. As the war has raged on, Russia has been able to solidify its relationship with China, with leaders of both countries terming their partnership as one with “no limits”.
“I am convinced that the visit to Kyiv of the leader of the Global South, Honourable Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi, will receive a wide global publicity and appreciation. It will be a confirmation of India’s leading role in establishing peace in the whole world. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam,” Oleksandr Polischuk, Ukrainian ambassador to India, had told ThePrint earlier in December 2023.
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US’ public frustration at Modi-Putin meet
The US has repeatedly made its frustration with Modi’s visit to Moscow clear publicly, with Eric Garcetti, the American ambassador to New Delhi, even publicly stating that India should not “take the relationship for granted”.
“I respect that India likes its strategic autonomy. But in times of conflict, there is no such thing as strategic autonomy. We will, in crisis moments, need to know each other and need to know that we are trusted friends, brothers and sisters, colleagues in times of need in the next day can be acting together,” said Garcetti at an event in New Delhi earlier this month.
Kurt Campbell, the American Deputy Secretary of State, had even expressed concern on the timing of Modi’s visit to Russia, to the then Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra, according to reports.
Donald Lu, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Wednesday appeared before the US House Foreign Affairs Committee and admitted that Washington D.C. is holding “tough talks” with New Delhi over the “symbolism and timing” of Modi’s visit to Russia.
India opted out of Global Peace Summit joint communiqué
India had also opted out of the joint communiqué that was announced by the countries present at the Global Peace Summit on the war in Ukraine hosted by Switzerland on 15-16 June. India was the only country to send a ministerial delegation to the summit from both the BRICS and SCO.
Most official delegations to attend the summit were from European countries and the Western world. China, the world’s second largest economy, had given the summit a miss.
From the BRICS organisation (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, UAE and Iran) and the SCO (Russia, Pakistan, India, China, Iran, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Belarus), only New Delhi had ministerial-level representation.
South Africa and UAE had sent envoys, while Brazil had sent an observer. The rest of the members had skipped the summit.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)