Journalism of Courage
Eight days after they spoke on phone, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Friday on the sidelines of the G7 Summit.
Modi said India continues to encourage peaceful resolution of the Russia-Ukraine conflict through dialogue and diplomacy, and reiterated that Delhi will continue to do everything within its means to support a peaceful solution.
The two leaders were meeting for the second time in a row on the G7 sidelines – they had met in Hiroshima in May 2023.
Modi said, “Had a very productive meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. India is eager to further cement bilateral relations with Ukraine. Regarding the ongoing hostilities, reiterated that India believes in a human-centric approach and believes that the way to peace is through dialogue and diplomacy.”
The Ministry of External Affairs, in a statement, said the Prime Minister thanked President Zelenskyy for his warm wishes on assuming office for a third term.
“Both leaders had a productive meeting in which they discussed ways to strengthen bilateral relations. They also exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine and the upcoming Summit on Peace being hosted by Switzerland,” the MEA said.
India will be represented by Pavan Kapoor, Secretary (West) in MEA, at the conference in Switzerland. Russia is not attending the conference.
The Ukraine President’s office, in a statement, said, “Volodymyr Zelenskyy congratulated Narendra Modi on his winning the elections and wished the Indian people peace and prosperity… During the meeting, the leaders discussed the development of bilateral relations and the possibility of exchanging experience in the use of new technologies in agriculture.”
“The President spoke about the functioning of the Black Sea transport corridor, which makes it possible to increase exports of sunflower oil to India and turnover of other categories of goods,” it said.
“The Head of State (Zelenskyy) informed on the preparations to the Global Peace Summit and thanked the Prime Minister of India for the expected presence of the high-level delegation at the event. The leaders discussed the agenda of the Summit,” it said.
On June 6, Zelenskyy had called Modi to congratulate him for his victory in the Lok Sabha elections and discussed the upcoming peace summit in Switzerland, hoping for India’s participation at the “highest level” at the conference. He also invited Modi to visit Ukraine at a “convenient time”.
Earlier, Zelenskyy had sought India’s support on his 10-point “peace formula” calling for withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine, release of prisoners, restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, and guarantees on nuclear safety, food and energy security.
