New Delhi, July 27 – India and Ukraine are exploring the possibility of Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting Kyiv next month amid renewed global efforts to bring peace to the eastern European nation, according to multiple diplomatic sources on Saturday.
Modi might visit Kyiv around Ukrainian National Day on August 24 and is expected to travel to Poland afterward, the sources said. This would mark the first visit by an Indian prime minister to Poland in over four decades.
The prime minister recently held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Apulia, Italy. During the meeting on June 14, Modi conveyed that India would continue to support a peaceful solution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict through “dialogue and diplomacy” and emphasized a “human-centric” approach to resolving the crisis. Zelenskyy invited Modi to visit Kyiv during this meeting.
India and Ukraine are considering a visit in the latter half of August, but no final decision has been made yet, as significant logistical preparations would be required. The two-nation visit might begin around August 23-24, according to the sources. There is no official confirmation from either India or Ukraine about the visit.
India has consistently maintained that the Ukraine conflict should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy. Modi’s visit to Russia on July 8-9 drew criticism from the United States and concerns from several western countries. In response, India asserted its “freedom of choice” in a multipolar world and urged others to recognize this reality.
During his summit talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Modi delivered a clear message that a solution to the Ukraine conflict cannot be achieved on the battlefield and that peace talks cannot succeed amidst ongoing violence.
