Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, Ukraine. | Photo credit: AP
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday invited President Volodymyr Zelensky to visit India and the Ukrainian leader said he would be happy to visit the “great” country.
Mr Modi invited Mr Zelensky during his visit. Extensive talks with Ukrainian President,
The Indian Prime Minister made a nearly nine-hour visit to Kyiv, the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Ukraine since Ukraine gained independence three decades ago.
In a media briefing after the talks between the two leaders, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar confirmed that Mr. Modi invited Mr. Zelensky to visit India.
He said, “It is significant that our Prime Minister is visiting Ukraine for the first time since 1992. On such occasions it is natural that he extends an invitation, as he did in this case.”
“So we hope that at some point in time, at his convenience, President Zelenskyy will visit India,” Jaishankar said.
A joint statement also said that Mr Modi invited Mr Zelensky to visit India at a mutually convenient time.
When asked at a media briefing about Mr Modi’s invitation, Mr Zelensky said he would be happy to visit India.
He said, “Yes, because when you start a strategic partnership and you start some conversations, I think you don’t need to waste time and take a big pause and that’s why I think it would be good to get together again.”
The Ukrainian President also said that he wants India to be on his country’s side.
“I have read a lot about your big and great country. It is very interesting,” he said, adding, “I need your country very much.”
Mr Zelensky said, “I would be happy to visit India as soon as your Government and Prime Minister agree to meet me.”
He also suggested that this visit would also depend on the situation in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, responding to a question, Mr Jaishankar said India’s energy trade with Russia was also discussed.
He said, “Yes, it did happen. I won’t go into detail about that, but we explained to the Ukrainian side what the situation is on the energy market, the fact that sanctions have been imposed on a number of energy producers today, which makes the market potentially very tight; and why exactly there is an obligation today, not just an obligation, I mean it is in the interest of the international economy as a whole that oil prices remain reasonable and stable.”
India, the world’s third-largest oil consumer and importer, bought crude oil worth $2.8 billion from Russia in July, second only to China, which continues to be the biggest importer of Russian oil, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said in a report.
Russia has emerged as India’s biggest supplier of crude oil, which is converted into fuels such as petrol and diesel at refineries, when Russian oil became available at a discount after some European countries refrained from buying from Moscow following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Imports from Russia, which constituted less than one per cent of total imported oil in the pre-Ukraine war period, now account for nearly 40 per cent of India’s total oil purchases.