Ukraine, trade talks on table as Jaishankar visits UK today

Announcing the visit, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Jaishankar would be on an official visit to the United Kingdom and Ireland from March 4 to 9.

India and the UK share a “comprehensive strategic partnership, which has strengthened across diverse areas including defence & security, trade & economy, health, education, people-to-people ties,” it said. “During the visit, EAM will be holding discussions with his counterpart, Foreign Secretary David Lammy, and will meet several other dignitaries as well as Indian community members.”

While Jaishankar’s six-day visit beginning Tuesday was scheduled earlier, his meetings will be closely watched, in the backdrop of the meeting hosted by Starmer to shore up support for Ukraine on Sunday.

Starmer, who met Zelenskyy on Saturday, has said that Britain, Ukraine, France and some other countries would form a “coalition of the willing” and draw up a peace plan to take to Trump. “This is not a moment for more talk. It’s time to act. Time to step up and lead and to unite around a new plan for a just and enduring peace,” he said.

“Europe must do the heavy lifting, but to support peace in our continent and to succeed, this effort must have strong US backing,” Starmer told a news conference on Sunday. He said European leaders had agreed to draw up a Ukraine peace plan to present to the US, a vital step for Washington to be able to offer security guarantees that Kyiv says are essential to deter Russia.

Zelenskyy also met King Charles at his private residence in eastern England — signalling support from the British monarch.

Jaishankar’s visit comes at a time when India has chosen not to take sides between Europe, Ukraine, Russia and the US. Last week, India abstained on two resolutions at the UN — moved by Ukraine and the US — signalling foreign policy independence, but also betraying its diplomatic constraints.

It has also nuanced its position on US-Russia direct talks, moving away from “two parties to the conflict” to “parties concerned” — a broader term that would include all four stakeholders — US, Ukraine, Russia and Europe, as of now.

It is now even more unlikely that India will express support for either country. New Delhi has walked the tightrope all along, and it will continue to stay away from taking sides, officials said. India will only point to its stated position — that dialogue and diplomacy is the only path forward, and solutions cannot be found on the battlefield.

Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed “support for a just and lasting peace”, “based on respect for international law, principles of the UN charter and territorial integrity and sovereignty”.

So, given India’s hedging and diplomatic balancing act in the last few weeks in the light of fast-changing developments — a continuum since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war — Jaishankar will have to navigate his conversations with his British interlocutors, followed by the Irish.

Meanwhile, a Reuters report on Monday quoted French President Emmanuel Macron and his Foreign Minister as saying that France and Britain are proposing a partial one-month truce between Russia and Ukraine that would cover air, sea and energy infrastructure attacks but not include ground fighting.

“Such a truce on air, sea and energy infrastructure would allow us to determine whether Russian President Vladimir Putin is acting in good faith when he commits to a truce. And that’s when real peace negotiations could start,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said.

Under the Anglo-French proposal, European ground troops would only be deployed to Ukraine in a second phase, French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview published in Le Figaro on Sunday. “There will be no European troops on Ukrainian soil in the coming weeks,” Le Figaro quoted Macron as saying, according to the report.

But UK-based daily, the Financial Times reported that the UK has distanced itself from France’s proposal for a limited one-month truce between Russia and Ukraine, while Kyiv raised reservations about stopping fighting without security guarantees. The differences emerged after the London summit.

While the war in Ukraine is certain to figure in the discussions, despite India’s ambivalence, Jaishankar is also expected to discuss the relaunching of talks on the ambitious India-UK free trade deal, sources said. Late last month, India and the UK relaunched talks on the proposed deal during British Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds’ visit to India.

Jaishankar will first be in London to hold talks with Lammy on a range of bilateral, regional and global issues. From London, he will go to Dublin. “India and Ireland share friendly bilateral relations based on shared democratic values, cultural ties and growing economic engagements,” the MEA said.

“EAM will be meeting with his Irish counterpart, Simon Harris, other dignitaries and members of Indian community, during his visit to Ireland on March 6-7, 2025,” it said, adding that his visit would provide “renewed impetus to India’s friendly ties with both UK and Ireland”.