Ahead of the upcoming visit of Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin discussed the situation in Ukraine on March 20. According to the official statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the telephonic conversation began with Prime Minister Modi congratulating President Putin on his recent election victory.
The Russian statement highlighted, “An exchange of views was also held on a number of issues on the international agenda, in particular in the context of the situation around Ukraine. They affirmed their commitment to coordinating their countries’ actions within multilateral formats including the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and BRICS.”
The MEA statement further added, “While discussing the Russia-Ukraine conflict, PM reiterated India’s consistent position in favour of dialogue and diplomacy as the way forward.”
During the call, Modi felicitated Putin and conveyed his best wishes for the peace, progress, and prosperity of the Russian people. Regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Modi reiterated India’s stance in favour of dialogue and diplomacy as the preferred means of conflict resolution.
Modi and Putin also took stock of the progress in bilateral cooperation and discussed regional and global matters. They affirmed their commitment to boosting the ‘India-Russia Special & Privileged Strategic Partnership,’ signalling an intent to fortify ties between the two nations
Later in the day, PM Modi spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the phone and assured him of providing continued humanitarian support.
Modi wrote on social media, “Had a good conversation with President @ZelenskyyUa on strengthening the India-Ukraine partnership. Conveyed India’s consistent support for all efforts for peace and bringing an early end to the ongoing conflict. India will continue to provide humanitarian assistance guided by our people-centric approach.”
“While discussing the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, the PM reiterated India’s people-centric approach and called for dialogue and diplomacy as the way forward. He highlighted that India supports all efforts for an early and peaceful resolution of all issues between the Parties. He added that India would continue to do everything within its means to support a peaceful solution,” according to the official statement shared by PMO.
President Zelenskyy appreciated India’s continued humanitarian assistance to the people of Ukraine. Before concluding the conversations, the two leaders agreed to remain in touch. The conversation with both leaders engaged in war came days before the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is likely to visit New Delhi later this month.
According to the sources, the visit is in the process of being finalized and Kuleba is likely to be in New Delhi by the end of March. The Ukrainian foreign minister is set to hold wide-ranging talks with his Indian counterpart Dr S Jaishankar besides meeting a number of senior officials. Kuleba is expected to seek India’s support for a peace summit that is being planned in Switzerland within the next couple of months.
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India’s Position on Ukraine-Russia War
India has been maintaining that the conflict in Ukraine must be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy. Last year, when PM Modi held in-person talks with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, he conveyed to the Ukranian leader that India would do whatever was possible to find a solution to the conflict.