PM’s Ukraine visit

THE government’s announcement that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Ukraine later this week comes amid reports of the death of a Kerala man in a Ukrainian attack on a Russian military camp. The Indian fatalities — around 10 so far in the nearly 30-month-old war — are a pressing reason why the PM is likely to tell Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy what he told Vladimir Putin last month: Moscow and Kyiv should resolve their conflict through dialogue and diplomacy. And Ukraine is expected to reiterate that it wants India to play a significant role for restoring peace, even though Delhi has deftly confined itself to being a messenger between the warring sides rather than a mediator.

In an assertion of its strategic autonomy, India has made no effort to conceal its pro-Russia leanings, but at the same time it has continued to engage with Ukraine. Zelenskyy had not minced words when he described PM Modi’s July visit to Russia — and a hug with Putin — as a ‘huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts’. Apparently, it was this criticism that prompted the PM to do a balancing act — he lamented the loss of innocent lives in a missile strike on a children’s hospital in Kyiv, a response that wasn’t music to Moscow’s ears.

Even as Russia will closely observe the PM’s upcoming meeting with Zelenskyy, the hard fact is that the discharge of Indians from the Russian military remains a work in progress. PM Modi had reportedly got an assurance from Putin in this regard last month, but not much has happened on the ground. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told the Lok Sabha on August 9 that of the 91 Indian nationals recruited in the Russian army, 69 were awaiting discharge. Exerting pressure on Moscow to ensure their expeditious return should be a top priority, but India also has to tread warily so as not to antagonise its all-weather friend.