PM Narendra Modi in Ukraine today: What’s on agenda? All you need to know

PM Modi in Ukraine: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit Ukraine today, on August 23, at the invitation of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a historic first for an Indian prime minister.

Modi will become the first Indian head of state to visit Ukraine since its independence in 1991, and the visit comes with high expectations for diplomacy with regards to the Russia-Ukraine war.

Diplomatic relations with Ukraine are more than 30 years long. In FY22, India's goods trade with Ukraine was approximately $3.4 billion, and Ukraine ranks among India's top 50 trade partners.

Senior External Affairs Ministry official Tanmaya Lal in a press meet told reporters that Modi would be in Kyiv for a day after concluding his visit to Poland (August 21-22).

What's On The Agenda?

During the visit, both leaders are expected to discuss collaboration in defence, economic and business relations, and science and technology.

Zelenskyy’s office confirmed Modi’s trip and said that “multiple cooperation agreements, and bilateral and multilateral cooperation issues” are on the table.

Notably, the Ukrainian leader criticised Modi's two-day visit to Moscow and meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in July this year. Ukraine and its western allies were critical of “deep ties” between India and Russia amid the latter's war with Ukraine.

A peace process between Moscow and Kyiv remains unlikely at present, with the war ongoing and both sides far apart on cease-fire terms. Ukraine demands Russian withdrawal from its territory before negotiations can begin, while Moscow, which declared four Ukrainian regions as Russian territory in late 2022, insists it will not relinquish these areas.

What Do Indian Diplomats Say?

Speaking on PM Modi’s meeting with Zelenskyy, Diplomat and former Ambassador Rajiv Bhatia told LiveMint that the visit aims to strengthen bilateral cooperation and to advocate for peace in the region, which is currently suffering from a devastating war.

Modi’s government has expanded the non-alignment policy by introducing “multi-alignment,” a strategy of all-vector hedging in its geopolitics.

“We had good relations with Ukraine centred around trade, economic, education, and defence cooperation. There has already been a good relationship ever since we established diplomatic relations 30 years back when the Soviet Union collapsed and emerged as a new nation-state. The visit will expand around these lines— India would extend more humanitarian assistance, and Ukraine would take an interest in the Indian companies while focusing on post-war reconstruction recovery work,” Bhatia added.

Speaking to reporters, Lad had said that this is “not a zero sum game”.

“India has substantive and independent ties with both Russia and Ukraine, and these partnerships stand on their own. This will build on ongoing engagement between India and Ukraine. I would like to emphasise that this is not a zero-sum game. The Prime Minister also visited Russia, and many ideas were discussed,” Lal said.

“These are independent and broad ties, and naturally, the ongoing conflict will be part of the discussions. Lasting peace can only be achieved through options that are acceptable to both parties. And it can only be a negotiated settlement,” he added.

What Do Ukrainian Diplomats Say?

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser in the Ukrainian president's office, told Reuters that Modi's visit to Kyiv is significant because of India's close ties with Russia and “certain influence” over Moscow.

“It's extremely important for us to effectively build relations with such countries, to explain to them what the correct end to the war is — and that it is also in their interests,” he said.

India, which has traditionally had close economic and defence ties with Moscow, has publicly criticised the deaths of innocent people in the war.

Volodymyr Fesenko, a Kyiv-based political analyst told Reuters that he does not expect any breakthrough, but added that it would be important for India to show it is “not on Russia's side”, the report said.

“For there to be an attempt to negotiate, the military situation has to stabilise and the presidential election must be held in the United States, a close ally of Ukraine,” he said.

Richard Verma, US deputy secretary of state for management and resources and a former US ambassador to India, called the trip important. “I appreciated some of the things that the prime minister has said, that this is not the time for war, this is a time for peace, but this is a very consequential period for the defence of liberty, freedom and the rule of law,” he said.

India-Russia Relations

So far, India has not yet criticised Russia over the war, increased its imports of Russian oil, and has continued to advocate for resolving the conflict between Ukraine and Russia through dialogue and diplomacy.

Indian refiners which rarely bought Russian oil in the past have emerged as Moscow's top clients for seaborne oil since Russia poured troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Russian oil accounts for over two-fifths of India's oil imports.

While in Moscow, PM Modi said, “Peace is of utmost importance. When innocent children are murdered, one sees them die, the heart pains and that pain is unbearable.”

(With inputs from Agencies)