India's recent engagements with Ukraine signal New Delhi's visibly neutral stance in conflict

A picture, it has been said, speaks a thousand words. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photograph with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima spoke volumes. This was the first time the two leaders met since the Russia-Ukraine conflict began. This, and India’s recent high-level visit of Sanjay Verma, Secretary (West) in the external affairs ministry, to Kiev for the ninth round of India-Ukraine Foreign Office Consultations signal that India will be more visibly neutral when it comes to the country.

The ministry of external affairs issued a statement on the foreign office consultation stating “the two sides reviewed bilateral ties in their entirety and also exchanged perspectives on the ongoing conflict and peace efforts.” Global and multilateral issues of mutual interest were also on the agenda.

Verma also met Ruslan Stefanchuk, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, the Parliament. Stefanchuk is known to be close to Zelenkskyy and was an ideologue for the President during the elections. The two discussed “the ways to strengthen parliamentary cooperation between the two countries.”

The foreign office consultation comes close on the heels of India participating in a peace conference in Copenhagen in June. The meeting in Denmark was attended by 15 countries and under secrecy. Apart from the West, the conference also brought the neutrals—including China, Brazil and South Africa—together. Interestingly, India did not choose to keep the attendance under wraps, tweeting Verma’s participation. Verma represented India at the conference too.

The First Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova said, "Happy to greet@SanjayVermalFSin #Kyiv for Foreign office consultations. We discussed areas of our mutual cooperation & elaborated on #PeaceFormula of@ZelenskyyUa to ensure just and lasting peace. Confident Ukraine-India relationship will continue to prosper." Dzhaparova was the first Ukrainian minister to visit India a few months ago. She had appealed to India to invite Zelenkskyy to the G20. Indonesia had him join virtually. No invitation has been issued, however.

While there has been an increasing visibility of the engagement with Ukraine in the past month, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the ASEAN conference on July 13. In a read-out sent by the Russian foreign office, the two discussed a “number of topical issues and cooperation in various areas’’. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to President Vladimir Putin after the Wagner mutiny.

Modi has been vocal about the need for peace. “The war in Ukraine is a huge issue for the entire world. It affected the world in several ways, but I don't consider it a political or economic issue….I assure you that India, and I personally, would definitely do whatever is in our capacity to resolve this situation," PM Modi can be heard saying to Zelenskyy in a video clip of the meeting shared by news agency ANI.