United Nations Secretary-General’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Thursday said he hoped Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Ukraine would contribute to ending the war.
When asked to comment on Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Ukraine amid the war, Dujarric said, “We have seen many heads of state and government visiting the region (and) we hope that all these visits will take us closer to an end to the conflict in accordance with General Assembly resolutions, international law and territorial integrity.”
The General Assembly has passed at least three resolutions demanding an end to Russian aggression and another resolution calling for an end to attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure. India did not vote on these resolutions.
Prime Minister Modi will visit Ukraine on Friday where he will meet President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Kyiv visit follows his visit to Russia last month, where he discussed the situation in Ukraine with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to reports, he will deliver messages between Ukraine and Russia.
The India-Russia joint statement issued at the end of Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Moscow said the two leaders “highlighted the imperative of a peaceful resolution of the conflict around Ukraine through dialogue and diplomacy, including with mutual engagement between the two sides”.
“They commended relevant offers of mediation and good actions aimed at achieving a peaceful resolution of the conflict in accordance with international law and on the basis of the full UN Charter,” the statement cryptically said.
Although India maintained neutrality by not voting to condemn the Russian aggression at the United Nations, Prime Minister Modi has criticised it.
“I know that today is not the era of war, and we have spoken to you on the phone many times about the fact that democracy and diplomacy and dialogue are the things that touch the world,” he told Putin at their 2022 meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
In July, on the day of Prime Minister Modi’s arrival in Moscow, a Russian missile attack took place on a children’s hospital in Ukraine.
Reacting to this, Prime Minister Modi said, “Whether it is war, conflict or terrorist attack, any person who believes in humanity feels sad on loss of life. But even in that, when innocent children are killed, the heart melts and that pain is very terrible.”
Prime Minister Modi and President Zelensky have spoken on the phone several times since Russia’s invasion began in February 2022.
After the conversation in March, the Prime Minister posted on Twitter that he “conveyed India’s continued support to all efforts for peace and an early end to the ongoing conflict. India will continue to provide humanitarian assistance as part of its people-centric approach”.
Zelenskyy said in his post that “Ukraine is interested in strengthening its trade and economic ties with India, especially in agricultural exports, aviation cooperation, and pharmaceutical and industrial product trade”.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)