Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that India did stay away from the war between Russia and Ukraine, but stressed that it was “never neutral” and was always “in favour of peace”.
“The second path that we adopted was to stay away from war. We have stayed away from the war with conviction but that does not mean that we were neutral. We were never neutral. We have been in favour of peace from day 1. I have come to the soil of Ukraine with a message of peace,” he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in Kyiv on Friday to meet the Ukrainian President, assured Volodymyr Zelenskyy that India was readyto play an active role in any efforts towards peace. “I want to assure you that India is ready to play an active role in any efforts towards peace. If I can play any role in this personally, I will do that I want to assure you as a friend,” he said.
During joint statements to reporters, PM Modi said he had come to Kyiv with a message of peace and called for dialogue between Russia and Ukraine the earliest opportunity.
“The road to resolution can only be found through dialogue and diplomacy. And we should move in that direction without wasting any time. Both sides should sit together to find a way out of this crisis,” Modi said.
PM Modi’s arrival comes a month-and-a-half after Zelenskyy criticized his visit to Moscow in July, when he met with Putin on the day Russian missiles struck across Ukraine, killing scores of people.
Zelenskyy described that meeting as a “huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts.”
Prime Minister Modi told Zelenskyy that India will always stand with Ukraine for humanitarian assistance. He mentioned his recent visit to Russia where he met President Putin and said that he told him in no uncertain terms that solutions of any problems cannot be found on the battlefield. He said that both countries have to sit on the discussion table and find a way out of the ongoing crisis.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday (August 23) briefed the media about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s historic visit to Ukraine where he met President Zelenskyy. “Much of discussions between PM Modi and President Zelenskyy was with regard to the war in Ukraine,” Jaishankar said at a briefing.
Modi’s visit is the first by an Indian prime minister to Ukraine since the two countries established diplomatic relations over 30 years ago.
