India backs Ukraine’s sovereignty as Modi calls for peace

INDIA supports Ukraine’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said today (23), as prime minister Narendra Modi used his first visit to Kyiv said he stood "firmly for peace".

In talks with the Ukrainian leader, Modi reiterated his call for a diplomatic solution the war with Russia, with the White House describing the visit as “helpful”.

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Modi was in Kyiv just over a month after angering Ukraine by hugging Russian president Vladimir Putin during a meeting in Moscow.

New Delhi, which has avoided explicit condemnation of Moscow's invasion, has cast itself as a possible peacemaker between the warring neighbours.

“Today, history was made. The Prime Minister of India @narendramodi made his first visit to Ukraine since our country's independence, on the eve of our Independence Day,” Zelenskyy posted on X after holding talks with Modi.

Modi arrived in Kyiv this morning on a special train on the first-ever visit to Ukraine by an Indian prime minister after it became independent in 1991.

“India supports Ukraine's national sovereignty and territorial integrity. And this is critical because everyone in the world must equally respect the UN Charter,” Zelenskyy added.

Narendra Modi hands over the BHISHM cube of medical assistance to Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Friday (ANI Photo)

Modi said India is ever ready to play an "active role" in every effort to restore peace in Ukraine and added he would even like to contribute personally in ending the conflict.

"We (India) are not neutral. From the very beginning, we have taken sides. And we have chosen the side of peace. We have come from the land of Buddha, where there is no place for war," Modi said in his opening remarks during the talks.

"We have come from the land of Mahatma Gandhi who had given a message of peace to the entire world," he added.

The prime minister also asserted India's commitment towards respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states.

"I want to assure you and the entire global community that India is committed to respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity (of states) and it is of utmost importance to us," he said.

Modi also spoke to Zelenskyy about his conversation with Putin in Samarkand in September 2022 and more recently in Moscow last month.

"Some time back, when I met President Putin in Samarkand, I had told him that this was not the era of war. Last month when I went to Russia, I said in clear words that a solution to any problem is never found on the battlefield," Modi said.

"The solution comes through talks, dialogue and diplomacy and we should move ahead in that direction without wasting time.

Both sides should sit together and find ways to come out of this crisis, the prime minister added.

But with neither Moscow not Kyiv showing signs of a breakthrough, India's foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar later said it was "clearly a complex issue" and that India believes Russia should be involved if peace efforts were to progress.

India took part in a Kyiv-led international peace summit in June, but Jaishankar said "productive (talks) will naturally have to involve the other party concerned."

Modi’s visit came as Kyiv's forces are mounting a major incursion into Russia's Kursk region, while Moscow's army is advancing in eastern Ukraine.

Modi began his visit by accompanying Zelensky to an exhibit commemorating children killed in the war.

"I realised that the first casualty of war is in fact innocent children," Modi said. "And that is truly heartbreaking."

In Washington, national security council spokesman John Kirby told reporters if Modi's Ukraine trip can work toward "getting us to an end to the conflict that comports with President (Volodymyr) Zelensky's vision for a just peace, well, then we think that would be helpful”.

(Agencies)