As Modi arrives in Kyiv, says Ukraine, West Asia conflicts ‘deeply worrisome’

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 22

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has termed the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and West Asia ‘deeply worrisome’ and said India wants peace and stability. This comes ahead of his train trip to Kyiv, first-ever by an Indian PM to Ukraine after it broke away from the USSR in 1992.

India and Poland decided to upgrade their relations to the level of a ‘strategic partnership’ to focus on trade, investment and expanding defence ties.

After the bilateral meeting with Polish counterpart Donald Tusk at Warsaw, the PM said: “We support dialogue and diplomacy. For this, India will join hands with friendly countries to provide all possible support.”

PM to stay in Ukraine capital for six hours after train ride from poland

• Modi will travel to Kyiv aboard ‘Rail Force One’; to catch it from an undisclosed place in Poland. Train is equipped with advanced security measures; used earlier by top leaders, including Biden
• PM Modi is expected to reach Kyiv on Friday morning and hold talks with President Zelenskyy; he will return to Poland by the same train after a six-hour stay in the Ukraine capital

The Kyiv visit is seen as an attempt to balance India’s ties with the US. New Delhi, so far, by being a partner in the Indo-Pacific, has managed to dodge US sanctions for buying Russian weapons and crude oil.

Russia is India’s largest weapons supplier and has since 2022 emerged as its biggest crude oil supplier.

Sweden-based think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in its annual report in March said India was the largest importer of weapons in the world and Russia was its largest supplier.

The US and its allies had expressed displeasure following Modi’s visit to Moscow on July 8 and 9. US’ Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu had expressed “disappointment” over the timing of PM’s Russia visit. US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti had asked New Delhi not to take “relationship for granted”.

In Warsaw, Modi reiterated India’s stand on the ongoing conflicts, saying: “India firmly believes there is no solution to any issue on battlefield.” He decried loss of innocent lives and termed it a “challenge for entire human kind”.

Ahead of the PM’s visit, Tanmaya Lal, Secretary-West in the Ministry and External Affairs, had said: “In Kyiv, discussions will be on bilateral relations, including economic, agriculture, infrastructure, health, education, pharmaceuticals and defence.”

Sources says India is looking at repair of its fleet of 104 AN32 transport planes from Ukraine and secure engines from state-owned Zorya-Mashproekt for its warships.

The train, which the PM will board from an undisclosed destination, will leave for Kyiv on an overnight 10-hour journey. Modi will be in Kyiv for six hours and meet President Volodymir Zelenskyy. In Ukraine, the meetings are scheduled to end around afternoon.

The train, ‘Rail Force One’, is equipped with facilities for travel by a head of state. It is fortified with advanced security measures, having armoured windows, secured communication systems, surveillance systems and a dedicated team of security personnel.

Indian and Ukraine security protocols will apply and a ‘radio silence’ — a term used for avoiding phone conversations — will be observed during the journey, said sources.

Modi will travel back on the same train to Poland. Previously, US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, former UK PM Rishi Sunak and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni had travelled to Kyiv aboard the train.

After talks between Modi and Tusk in Warsaw earlier today, the two sides released a joint statement and a five-year “Action Plan” (2024-2028). Talks were also held on cooperation in defence and possibilities to collaborate. Tusk, in press a statement, said: “Poland is ready to participate in Make in India. We have the expertise and technological prowess.”

Modi said defence sector cooperation is a signal of our deep trust. “We should increase this,” he added.

The PM also thanked Poland for facilitating the evacuation of Indian students from Ukraine after the conflict began in 2022. For skilled workers and to increase mobility, the two sides agreed on social security agreement. “Poland will assume the presidency of the European Union in January 2025. I am confident that your cooperation will strengthen the relations between India and the EU,” Modi said.