Indian PM Modi kicks off landmark visit to Poland and Ukraine
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Mr Narendra Modi will be the first Indian prime minister to make a trip to Ukraine, and the first in 45 years to travel to Poland.
PHOTO: REUTERS
WARSAW - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Aug 21 began an historic trip to Poland and Ukraine, where he has pledged to campaign for a peaceful resolution of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Modi will be the first Indian prime minister to make a trip to Ukraine,
He is expected to meet Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Andrzej Duda on Aug 22, as well as Indian nationals living in the Central European country.
“This visit will add momentum to the India-Poland friendship and benefit the people of our nations,” Mr Modi said on social media platform X upon landing in Warsaw.
On Aug 21, Mr Modi will commemorate an Indian maharaja who sheltered Polish children during World War II, before laying flowers at a war memorial and delivering a speech to the Indian community in Poland.
Poland “needs a lasting partnership with India”, Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz told reporters before Mr Modi’s visit, adding that economic ties would also be on the agenda.
Meeting with Zelensky
Mr Modi has trodden a delicate balance between maintaining India’s historically warm ties with Russia while courting closer security partnerships with Western nations as a bulwark against regional rival China.
His government has avoided explicit condemnations of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, instead urging both sides to resolve their differences through dialogue.
“As a friend and partner, we hope for an early return of peace and stability in the region,” Mr Modi said in a statement published on Aug 21 before his departure for Poland.
In Kyiv, Mr Modi will hold talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky and “share perspectives on peaceful resolution of the ongoing Ukraine conflict”, the statement added.
Indian foreign ministry official Tanmaya Lal said before the visit: “India has consistently advocated for diplomacy and dialogue to reach a negotiated settlement.”
Mr Zelensky announced on Aug 19 that “a number of documents are also expected to be signed” during the meeting with Mr Modi, whose previous diplomatic efforts drew condemnation from Kyiv.
In July, hours after Russia pummelled multiple cities across Ukraine, Mr Modi visited Moscow and was pictured hugging Mr Putin at his residence.
He also visited Russia in 2019 and hosted Mr Putin in New Delhi two years later, weeks before Moscow began its offensive against Ukraine.
India has largely shied away from explicit condemnation of Russia and abstained on UN resolutions targeting the Kremlin.
However, Russia’s fight with Ukraine has also had a human cost for India.
New Delhi has pushed Moscow to return several of its citizens who signed up for “support jobs” with the Russian military but were later sent to fight on the front lines in Ukraine.
At least five Indian soldiers have been killed in the conflict. AFP
