New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Ukraine marks a rare war-time visit by the leader of a country seen to be a close ally of Russia and its leader Vladimir Putin. While Modi talked about territorial integrity and focused on peace during his visit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was not impressed, it seems.
Experts say Zelenskyy issued “curt’ messages to India in a key press conference after Modi’s departure from Kyiv, in which he made a veiled reference to India’s border standoff with China and outlined the limits of New Delhi’s peace efforts given it did not endorse a joint communique at the Global Peace Summit held in Switzerland in June.
Modi and Putin’s comradery is well known, as highlighted when the Russian President called him “param dost” (best friend) during the Indian Prime Minister’s visit to Moscow last month. India has had long-standing bilateral relations with first the Soviet Union and then the Russian Federation, marked by strong defence ties and Moscow’s support for New Delhi’s stance on the Kashmir issue at the United Nations (UN).
Modi can be seen as Putin’s first visible ally to visit Ukraine, Moscow’s enemy on the battlefield. Though, the leader of Hungary, a member of the European Union (EU) and NATO, visited Kyiv last month. This was seen as a rare visit as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is a close ally of Putin who has repeatedly voiced qualms with the rest of the EU and leaned closer towards Russia.
Even Chinese President Xi Jinping, a close ally of Putin’s who has put forth his own peace plan to end the conflict, avoided Ukraine when he visited Europe this summer. Xi only visited France, Serbia and Hungary.
Belarus, arguably the closest ally of Moscow, has meanwhile deployed nearly a third of its army to its border with Ukraine. Its leader, Alexander Lukashenko, has not visited Ukraine and neither have leaders of other sanctioned states that are close partners of Russia, like Iran and Cuba.
Also Read: Tribute to kids killed in war, to territorial integrity push, key moments from Modi’s Ukraine trip
What was Zelenskyy’s ‘curt’ message to India
During a press conference Saturday after Modi departed Kyiv, Zelenskyy held a press conference with Indian reporters where he welcomed the Indian Prime Minister’s historic visit—first-ever in the history of relations between the two countries—but offered several caveats while he spoke.
“I truly believe that it would be good if the second peace summit be held in one of the Global South countries. There are countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey,” Zelenskyy said.
“I told PM Modi that we could have the Global Peace Summit in India. It’s a big country and the largest democracy… but we won’t be able to conduct a peace summit in a country who hasn’t joined the communique of the [first] peace summit,” he added.
Pavan Kapoor, secretary (west) at MEA, served as India’s representative at the June summit but India, along with 13 other countries, did not sign the final document.
According to Ukraine-based Dr Mridula Ghosh, associate professor at National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, the perception in Ukraine is that India operates “under the shadow” of Russia and is an “enabler” of Putin’s war effort.
“Zelenskyy wants the second peace summit in the Global South. Unlike China or Brazil, India is not posing itself as a mediator with a written peace plan, which inclines in favour of Russia. It looks more as one that can facilitate peace efforts. So, India is more pliant as far as peace efforts are concerned. What holds Ukrainians back is that India does not recognize Russia as an aggressor state, talks about peace but did not sign the communique,” she explained.
Dr Ghosh added that the concerns raised by Zelenskyy, no matter how “curt”, can help India refocus its foreign policy towards post-Soviet states.
“India has been engaging with most post-Soviet states, whether it’s Ukraine or others, through the prism of Russian foreign policy. Zelenskyy’s concerns about India’s balancing act suggest Delhi needs an independent outlook on its strategic relations with such countries. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s visit to Georgia in 2021 was a step in the right direction. But except Armenia, we have not seen that type of nuanced engagement with post-Soviet states after the Ukraine war broke out,” Ghosh explained.
In 2021, Jaishankar briefly visited Georgia after a trip to Moscow. Georgia and Russia have a tenuous history marked by a conflict that reignited in 2008 over the separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
During the press conference, Zelenskyy also made a veiled reference to China’s misadventures along its border with India.
“If Putin can do something, then others can do something too. When you’re asking me about the other countries, including China, I think as long as Ukraine stands and fights and condemns the violation of territorial integrity—as long as the world is with Ukraine, the risks of crises occurring in the world decreases,” he said.
The Ukrainian President added, “If there is a justification of Putin’s actions, then I’m confident there will be consequences in other parts of the world as to the violation of territorial integrity.”
He also criticised India’s imports of cheap Russian oil to help Moscow’s “war economy”. “If India won’t be buying oil, then Russia will have significant troubles and challenges,” he said.
Some experts like former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal criticised the Ukrainian President’s comments about the Modi-Putin hug in Moscow last month which coincided with a strike on a children’s hospital in Kyiv.
“He is a killer for us. But did he do something good for you if during an official visit of the PM you attack children in the hospital? Very important moment. He had to recognise that he [Putin] doesn’t respect India or doesn’t control his army,” Zelenskyy said in the press conference.
Sibal asked if these remarks sought to drive a “wedge” between Delhi and Moscow.
Zelensky’s press comments on Modi’s visit were most improper. Chided India for buying Russian oil & fuelling its coffers despite India repeatedly explaining its position over several months.. Where was the need to again hector India on this? Said Putin showed disrespect to Modi…
— Kanwal Sibal (@KanwalSibal) August 24, 2024
Zelenskyy’s ‘red lines’
In his remarks to the press, Zelenskyy, say experts, was outlining the limits of India’s peace efforts amid the war.
Rajesh Rajagopalan, professor of international politics at JNU, told ThePrint that Zelenskyy appeared to be setting out some “red lines”.
“I don’t think Zelenskyy is ready for India to play the mediator. He was setting out some benchmarks, which India obviously will not satisfy. But he also has an interest in reducing Russia’s sources of support, of which India is an important one. I don’t think he was taking a dig, but outlining the red lines as far as Ukraine was concerned,” Rajesh Rajagopalan, professor of international politics at JNU, told ThePrint.
In his press conference, the Ukrainian President had said Kyiv wouldn’t compromise on its values in a peace settlement. “Of course we want him [Modi] very much to have the peace summit and we will be very happy to work on it… but we don’t change our territories on any propositions,” he said.
“We don’t change our people, values or territories to any propositions. We will not change our freedom and democracy,” he emphasised.
That said, Zelenskyy conceded that India is an influential country that can change the attitude of other “so-called ‘sceptical’ countries”.
He added that he is open to visiting India and that it could be the “key in this diplomatic influence” that could end the war.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
Also Read: Debt burden & climate change emerge as key concerns in India-hosted summit for ‘Global South’
My handicap please help me no BPL card no government help please me help me sir