Ukraine: PM Modi may meet President Zelenskyy during G-7 Summit in Japan
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Nearly 450 days after Russia started a “special military operation” against Ukraine, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to hold bilateral talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Japan, the media reported on Friday.
On the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G-7) Summit at Hiroshima, the two leaders may hold their first bilateral talks after the Russian invasion started in Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
Senior diplomats of the two countries are exploring the possibility of a bilateral meeting between PM Modi and President Zelenskyy.
If they agree, it will be their first in-person meeting after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which continues unabated amid the Western sanctions on Moscow, wanton destruction in Ukraine, and failing global efforts for peace.
On Friday, PM Modi left for the Japanese city of Hiroshima to attend three sessions at the G-7 Summit as part of his three-nation tour that will also take him to Papua New Guinea and Australia.
Besides attending the summit, PM Modi will also hold a series of bilateral meetings with global leaders, including his Japanese counterpart Japan Fumio Kishida.
On the sidelines of G-7, QUAD leaders of the US, India, Japan, and Australia are also expected to meet.
President Zelenskyy is attending the G-7 Summit following an invitation by Japan, the current chair of the powerful grouping of the world’s wealthiest democratic nations.
Ukraine’s First Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova visited India in April in what was the first high-level trip to New Delhi from the war-ravaged Eastern European country.
During her visit, she handed over a letter, addressed by President Zelenskyy to PM Modi, to the Minister of State for External Affairs, Meenakshi Lekhi.
In an effort to bring peace between them since the Ukraine conflict began, PM Modi spoke to the two Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Volodomyr Zelenskyy, a number of times.
In a phone conversation with President Zelenskyy on October 4 last year, PM Modi said there can be “no military solution” and that India is ready to contribute to any peace efforts.
India has been maintaining that the crisis must be resolved through diplomacy and dialogue.
“I know that today’s era is not of war and we have spoken to you many times on the phone that democracy, diplomacy, and dialogue touch the world. Today we will get a chance to discuss how we can move forward on the path of peace in the coming days,” he was reported to have told President Putin of Russia during their meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Council (SCO) meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, in September 2022.
