New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Kyiv next month for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, sources have said.
This comes a month after PM Modi and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Italy.
The two leaders were seen sharing a hug as they met.
On the day PM Modi secured a third term after the Lok Sabhal elections, Zelensky had congratulated him and invited him to visit the war-torn country.
In a phone call with President Zelenskyy in March this year, PM Modi discussed ways to strengthen India-Ukraine partnership and reiterated the nation’s people-centric approach and calls for dialogue and diplomacy for the resolution of the ongoing conflict.
The Prime Minister said India would continue to do everything within its means to support a peaceful solution.
Ever since the war began India has maintained it can only be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy, and the Prime Minister has said “India is ready to contribute to any peace efforts”.
PM Modi had also travelled to Moscow earlier this month on a two-day visit.
PM Modi, during his meeting with President Putin, stressed no solution – to the violence – could be found on the battlefield. “India has always called for respecting the United Nations Charter, including territorial integrity and sovereignty. There is no solution on the battlefield. Dialogue and diplomacy is the way forward,” he had said.