Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the UN Summit on Monday where he reiterated India's support for bringing in peace to the region through dialogue and diplomacy.
This is the third meeting of the duo in three months. Last month, he visited Ukraine, a landmark visit as it was the first by an Indian prime minister since it became independent over three decades back. During that meeting, Modi had promised then to do whatever he could to end the conflict and signed pacts on various sectors, including agriculture, food industry, medical product regulation and cultural cooperation.
On Monday, their meeting toed the same line with the Prime Minister reiterated India's principled position and focus on peaceful resolution of the conflict.
This is already the third bilateral meeting this year with the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi @narendramodi. We are actively developing our relations and working together to strengthen cooperation across various fields.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 23, 2024
The main focus of our conversation was on enhancing… pic.twitter.com/cn7ao2Qp3f
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri later told the reporters that both sides agreed to follow up on the decisions taken during last meeting. Besides the war, their discussions also covered bilateral issues. "They agreed to remain in close touch either directly or through exchanges of visit at various other levels," Misri said, adding that Zelenskyy thanked India for its support.
The Ukrainian President later took to X to brief about his meeting with the Prime Minister, mentioning India's preparation for the second Peace Summit. "We are actively developing our relations and working together to strengthen cooperation across various fields. The main focus of our conversation was on enhancing our interaction on international platforms, particularly at the UN and G20, as well as implementing the Peace Formula and preparing for the second Peace Summit. We had a substantive discussion on the available opportunities," Zelenskyy said on X.
Modi on Monday also met Vietnamese President To Lam and Armenian counterpart Nikol Pashinyan at the sidelines of the UN Summit.
Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister addressed the UN's landmark Summit of the Future held against the backdrop of raging global conflicts, including the Israel-Hamas war and the Ukraine crisis. Modi mentioned the growing threats of terrorism in his speech, adding that cyber, maritime and space are emerging as new areas of conflict. "Success of humanity lies in our collective strength, not in the battlefield," he said.
The Prime Minister arrived in New York on Saturday after attending the Quad Leaders' Summit in Wilmington, Delaware, where he also had bilateral discussions with US President Joe Biden.
