After Russian Visit, Jaishankar Speaks With Ukrainian Foreign Minister
The Wire Staff
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New Delhi: Amidst an escalation in bombardment in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, India and Ukraine apparently agreed to hold the first meeting in six years of the Indo-Ukrainian inter-governmental commission (IGC) “in the near future” during a phone conversation between their respective foreign ministers on Wednesday (January 3).
Last Friday, Russia began the single-largest aerial assault on Ukrainian cities, resulting in the deaths of scores of civilians.
On Tuesday, Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and its second largest city, Kharkiv, came under attack from drones. Over 100 people were injured and at least five others were killed.
A day later, Russian officials reported that Ukrainian missiles had targeted cities in southern Russia and the Crimean peninsula, killing dozens of civilians.
Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba and his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar spoke on Wednesday about “Russia's recent escalation of terror and mass air attacks, which caused civilian suffering and destruction”.
Kuleba also raised Ukraine’s “vision” for a global summit of leaders to deliberate on peace proposals.
He also posted on X (formerly Twitter) that Jaishankar and he agreed to hold the first meeting of the IGC since 2018 “in the near future”.
“The rejuvenation of this primary mechanism of our bilateral ties will allow us to jointly move forward in a comprehensive manner,” Kuleba posted on his official account.
In a succinct post, Jaishankar didn’t mention the revival of the IGC, but noted that they discussed “advancing our bilateral cooperation in the year ahead”.
He also mentioned that they “exchanged views on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine”.
The phone call took place less than a week after Jaishankar returned from a five-day visit to Russia last month.
After his meeting, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov had praised India for taking a “responsible approach” to discussing geo-political hotspots like Ukraine.
India is one of the handful of major countries that have not criticised Russia publicly for its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
It has also abstained on resolutions against Russia at various UN bodies.
Ukraine has criticised India for buying discounted oil from Russia.
Last May, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G-7 summit in Japan. The Ukrainian leader had reportedly been seeking a slot to speak at the G-20 summit in India.
Unlike the 2022 summit in Indonesia, Zelensky didn’t give a virtual speech to the assembled leaders in Delhi in September last year.
The final joint statement, which was agreed on by consensus, omitted any criticism of Russia for the Ukraine war.
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