Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Arrives in New Delhi, Hopes to Boost Ties With Nemesis Friend Russia Achi-News

Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba arrived in New Delhi on Thursday for a two-day visit with the hope of boosting bilateral cooperation with India, a long-standing partner of its nemesis Russia.

Kuleba will meet his Indian counterpart, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, on Friday, as well as the deputy national security adviser, according to a readout from the Ministry of External Affairs. On Thursday, Kuleba will pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at the Rajghat memorial site.

“I started my visit to New Delhi at the invitation of @DrSJaishankar. The Ukrainian-Indian cooperation is important and we will revive relations. Building on the dialogue between @ZelenskyyUa and @NarendraModi, we will pay particular attention to the Peace Formula,” Kuleba said in a post on X.

‘Talk to Putin, Zelenskyy’

His visit comes a week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin. On March 25, when announcing his visit to India, Kuleba recalled Mahatma Gandhi in his speech. “His ideal and ultimate goal was freedom and independence. And this is exactly what Ukrainians are fighting for today. ” The foreign minister of the visit had said that “supporting Ukraine today means supporting freedom and independence.”

Amid the Ukraine conflict, New Delhi has emphasized the need for diplomacy and dialogue to end the war and has expressed its willingness to contribute to peace efforts. On March 20, PM Modi posted on social media platform X, to say that he had expressed to Zelenskyy “India’s constant support for all efforts for peace and an early end to the ongoing conflict,” adding that the country continues to provide humanitarian. help. This came after Modi spoke to Putin to congratulate him on his re-election as president.

Peace Summit

During the phone conversation, the two leaders agreed to further strengthen their relationship, while Modi reiterated that dialogue and peace were the best way forward for the Russia-Ukraine war. In his phone call with Modi last week, Zelenskyy said he encouraged India to participate in the Peace Summit that Switzerland has offered to organize. “Ukraine is interested in strengthening our trade and economic relations with India, especially in agricultural exports, aviation cooperation, and pharmaceutical and industrial product trade,” the Ukrainian president said in a post on X.

A day ahead of Ukraine’s foreign minister’s visit to India, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday that India’s position in the Russia-Ukraine conflict was that a solution cannot be found on the battlefield and that New Delhi wants to find to a way of bringing this conflict to light. end Responding to a question on India’s position on the Russia-Ukraine conflict during his interaction with the Indian diaspora here in the Malaysian capital, Jaishankar said there were “no winners of a conflict”.

“We took the position from the beginning, that you’re not going to get a solution to this conflict on the battlefield,” he said. “At the end of the day, all parties and many innocent bystanders or other nations are also ruined or affected. One way or another through conflict. So, our position has been here to find a way to end this conflict,” he said, adding “quite frankly, in some circles, this was not a very popular situation at that time”.

India’s close ties have been the subject of criticism from the Western media, particularly regarding its oil purchases amid the Ukraine conflict. During his last visit to Russia in December, Jaishankar noted the importance of India’s relationship with Russia. “I have written about it in my book, and I mean I said it in Moscow. I said it publicly in Moscow even before my meeting with President Putin took place, that we value this relationship. It is a relationship that has served India well,” he said.

(With agency input)