India, Ukraine agree to restore pre-war ties

Tribune News Service

Sandeep Dikshit

New Delhi, March 29

The Foreign Ministers of India and Ukraine, S Jaishankar and Dmytro Kuleba, on Friday agreed to restore the level of bilateral cooperation that existed before Russia began the military operation in 2022.

Aiming to end conflict

Our discussions focused on the ongoing conflict and its wider ramifications. Spoke as well on global and regional issues of interest to both of us. S Jaishankar, EAM

Meeting for the first time in a structured format since hostilities broke out, they also paid specific attention to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s peace proposal, for which the West is keen on a high-level Indian representation at a forthcoming summit in Switzerland to take it forward.

“Our discussions focused on the ongoing conflict and its wider ramifications. Exchanged views on various initiatives in that context,” Jaishankar said in a post on X. “Spoke as well on global and regional issues of interest to both of us. Reiterated our commitment to strengthen the overall relationship, including bilateral cooperation,” he said. In his opening remarks, Jaishankar said Kuleba’s visit provided India “an opportunity to understand the situation in its own region. And I look forward to hearing your perspectives on that”. “I am glad to see some of our bilateral mechanisms have also met and this has created a certain momentum in our bilateral relationship,” he said while mentioning the several interactions at various levels between the two sides in recent months.

Kuleba said he had “sincere and comprehensive talks” with Jaishankar. “We also co-chaired the Ukrainian-Indian intergovernmental commission review meeting and agreed to restore the level of cooperation between our countries that existed prior to the full-scale war launched by Russia, as well as identify new promising projects to take our relations to the next level,” he posted on X.

The visit comes just over a week after PM Modi spoke to Presidents of Ukraine and Russia on March 20 over the phone. In his talks with both leaders, PM Modi said “India supports all efforts for an early and peaceful resolution of all issues between Kiev and Moscow”.

“It will be important for us to see India attend the inaugural peace summit, which is currently being prepared in Switzerland,” Zelenskyy had posted on X after the conversation with PM Modi.

In his talks with Zelenskyy, Modi had said India would continue doing everything within its means to support a peaceful solution as Zelenskyy appreciated the country’s continued humanitarian assistance for Ukraine. “Our position is very clear.... We continue to encourage peaceful resolution of the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy,” the MEA spokesperson had said on a query on India’s position on the peace conference in Switzerland.

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