New Delhi: A day before the start of the Ukraine war peace summit in Switzerland, Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelenskyy acknowledged that India will be sending a “high level” delegation, which will certainly not be at the “highest level” as he had previously desired.
He made the revelation in a post on X (formerly Twitter), after a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy.
A week ago, Zelenskyy had congratulated Modi on his third term as prime minister and also hoped that India would participate at the “highest level” at the Global peace summit.
“We also talked about the Global Peace Summit and issues on its agenda. I thank Prime Minister Modi for sending a high-level delegation to the Summit,” Zelenskyy posted after the meeting on Friday.
He also spoke about increasing trade through the Black Sea shipping routes that Ukraine established to replace the UN-backed Black Sea export deal.
The Indian readout simply stated that the two leaders had “exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine and the upcoming Summit on Peace being hosted by Switzerland”.
It is understood that India will be represented at the Peace Summit by MEA’s Secretary (west), Pawan Kapoor.
India’s representation at the secretary-level, rather than at a much higher political level, is not surprising due to New Delhi’s close relations with Russia.
In the past two years, New Delhi has refrained from directly criticising Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, typically calling for peaceful resolution and the protection of civilians in conflicts. It has also abstained from any resolution in the United Nations that criticised Russia for the Ukraine war.
Russia, which has opposed the peace summit, has not been invited by Switzerland. China, which had been invited, said that it wouldn’t attend as both the parties to the conflict would not be present.
Among the global south, Brazil would be represented by its ambassador.
Nearly all the European countries – and Japan – will be sending their heads of state or government.
The United States will be represented by Vice President Kamala Harris and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
About 90 countries and international organisations have confirmed their participation in the event which will be held this weekend at a resort outside Lucerne.