Modi makes loud global statement with Ukraine visit
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India not neutral, but on side of peace: Modi tells Zelenskyy
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, August 23: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Friday. He gave a big message to Ukraine that India has never been neutral.
“India was never neutral. India has been on one side in the war between Russia and Ukraine from the beginning and that side has always been peace,” Modi told Zelenskyy.
The war between Ukraine and Russia has entered its third year. After a 10-hour train journey, Modi arrived in Kiev. He was warmly welcomed by the Indians living there and after that he went to a children’s museum. This children’s museum is for those who died in the Ukraine War.
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Modi became very emotional while looking at the memorial. Modi said that India is the land where Mahatma Buddha was born, who gave the message of peace to the world. “India is the land where Lord Mahavir was born, who gave the message of peace to the world and India has always wanted that peace be established. War should end through dialogue, diplomacy and dialogue,” said Modi.
Zelenskyy expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the visit of Modi. “Today, history was made. The Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi made his first visit to Ukraine since our country’s independence, on the eve of our Independence Day,” said Zelenskyy.
The Ukrainian President also said that “we reached an agreement on four documents between Ukraine and India, covering the medical field, agricultural cooperation, humanitarian relations, and culture”.
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“Following the visit, we also agreed on a joint statement focusing on the development of a strategic partnership, bilateral trade, and continued military-technical cooperation. India supports Ukraine’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity. And this is critical because everyone in the world must equally respect the UN Charter,” added Zelenskyy.
Modi’s visit to Ukraine came within six weeks of him visiting Moscow, where he met Russian President Vladimir Putin. Modi had also met Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Samarkand.
Modi had told Putin that “this is not the era of war”. Modi was praised by western commentators when he told Putin that he was very hurt by the killings of innocent people in the Ukraine War.
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Modi has said many times that there is an attempt to create bipolarity in the world. And somewhere or the other, pressure is put on India to choose one of these two poles. But India has never chosen any pole till date. “India believes in a multipolar world. India is in favour of trying to solve global problems under the aegis of the United Nations,” Modi has said in the past.
Modi’s visit to Ukraine, in diplomatic terms, can be called a fine balance.
Will Putin end the war at Modi’s behest? Will Zelenskyy end the war at Modi’s behest?
Today, the answer to all these questions is clear and straightforward negative. No, war cannot end at Modi’s behest.
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The Iraq and Iran War lasted for 11 years. When the Ukraine War started, India’s former Foreign Secretary Shashank, who was India’s Foreign Secretary during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government, had said then that just like the war between Iran and Iraq lasted for 11 years, he feels that the war between Russia and Ukraine will also go on for a very long time.
Russia’s war-fighting capability is very high. The reason for this is that this war has not affected Russia’s economy. Russia’s economic progress is still going to be rapid.
Russia is selling its oil and gas in large quantities to countries like China. Trade relations with China are increasing a lot.
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The sanctions imposed by the western countries did not have any effect on Russia’s economy because Russia’s trade relations with China kept deepening. And Ukraine has the support of all the NATO countries. Military funding from NATO is increasing. Military supplies are increasing.
So, in such a situation, neither Ukraine’s capability is going to reduce, nor Russia’s capability is going to reduce. So, when neither of the two countries sees its capability to fight a war reducing, then whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks, the possibility of the war between Russia and Ukraine ending with the words of these two or anyone else seems very unlikely.
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