INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi will visit Ukraine, the foreign ministry said Monday (19), weeks after Kyiv condemned him for hugging president Vladimir Putin during a visit to traditional ally Russia.
New Delhi's foreign ministry did not give a date for the visit to Poland and Ukraine, but Indian media reports suggest it will take place later this week.
Modi has trod a delicate balance between maintaining his country's historically warm ties with Moscow while courting closer security partnerships with Western nations as a bulwark against regional rival China.
His government has avoided explicit condemnations of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in the more than two years since the conflict began, instead urging both sides to resolve their differences through dialogue.
Modi's July visit to Moscow came hours after a Russian barrage hit multiple cities across Ukraine, killing more than three dozen people and heavily damaging a children's hospital in Kyiv.
Modi was pictured hugging Putin at his country residence a day earlier, drawing condemnation from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
India and Russia have maintained close links since the Cold War, which saw the Kremlin become a key arms provider to the country.
Since the Ukraine conflict began Russia has also become a major supplier of cut-price crude oil to India, providing a much-needed export market after the imposition of Western sanctions.
That has dramatically reconfigured their economic ties, with India saving itself billions of dollars while bolstering Moscow's war coffers.
But 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 frontlines in Ukraine.
At least five Indian soldiers have died in the conflict.
Western powers have cultivated stronger relations with India as a hedge against China and its growing influence across the Asia-Pacific region, while pressuring New Delhi to distance itself from Russia.
India is part of the Quad grouping with the US, Japan and Australia that positions itself against China's growing assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region.
Modi also visited Russia in 2019 and hosted Putin in New Delhi two years later, weeks before Russia began its offensive against Ukraine.
India has largely shied away from explicit condemnation of Russia ever since and abstained on United Nations resolutions targeting the Kremlin.
(AFP)
Davindra and Seema Misra, and Vijay and Gita Parekh
Varchas Patel with his father Vipin and mother Jayshriben
Hasmukh Shingadia and his wife Chandrika were all victims of the Horizon scandal
During the hearing, Clifford denied all the charges except for the rape charge, which was added to the indictment at the session. (Photo: Hertfordshire Police /Handout via REUTERS)
Man pleads not guilty to murder of BBC presenter's family
A 26-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering the wife and two daughters of BBC sports commentator John Hunt in a crossbow and knife attack.
Kyle Clifford, who also faces charges of rape, appeared via video link at Cambridge Crown Court on Thursday.
Clifford, arrested in July after a manhunt, is charged with three counts of murder, one count each of rape and false imprisonment, and two counts of possessing offensive weapons – a 10-inch knife and a crossbow.
During the hearing, Clifford denied all the charges except for the rape charge, which was added to the indictment at the session.
He is expected to enter a plea for that charge at a later date.
The victims were Carol Hunt, 61, wife of horseracing commentator John Hunt, and their daughters Louise, 25, and Hannah, 28.
An earlier hearing revealed that Louise had been found tied up and that both she and her sister had been shot with a crossbow, while their mother had been stabbed with a knife.
The fatal attack occurred at the family’s home in Bushey, a commuter town near Watford, northwest of London.
(With inputs from AFP)