AGL 38.02 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (0.21%)
AIRLINK 197.36 Increased By ▲ 3.45 (1.78%)
BOP 9.54 Increased By ▲ 0.22 (2.36%)
CNERGY 5.91 Increased By ▲ 0.07 (1.2%)
DCL 8.82 Increased By ▲ 0.14 (1.61%)
DFML 35.74 Decreased By ▼ -0.72 (-1.97%)
DGKC 96.86 Increased By ▲ 4.32 (4.67%)
FCCL 35.25 Increased By ▲ 1.28 (3.77%)
FFBL 88.94 Increased By ▲ 6.64 (8.07%)
FFL 13.17 Increased By ▲ 0.42 (3.29%)
HUBC 127.55 Increased By ▲ 6.94 (5.75%)
HUMNL 13.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.10 (-0.74%)
KEL 5.32 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (1.92%)
KOSM 7.00 Increased By ▲ 0.48 (7.36%)
MLCF 44.70 Increased By ▲ 2.59 (6.15%)
NBP 61.42 Increased By ▲ 1.61 (2.69%)
OGDC 214.67 Increased By ▲ 3.50 (1.66%)
PAEL 38.79 Increased By ▲ 1.21 (3.22%)
PIBTL 8.25 Increased By ▲ 0.18 (2.23%)
PPL 193.08 Increased By ▲ 2.76 (1.45%)
PRL 38.66 Increased By ▲ 0.49 (1.28%)
PTC 25.80 Increased By ▲ 2.35 (10.02%)
SEARL 103.60 Increased By ▲ 5.66 (5.78%)
TELE 8.30 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (0.97%)
TOMCL 35.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.09%)
TPLP 13.30 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-1.85%)
TREET 22.16 Decreased By ▼ -0.57 (-2.51%)
TRG 55.59 Increased By ▲ 2.72 (5.14%)
UNITY 32.97 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.03%)
WTL 1.60 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (5.26%)
BR100 11,727 Increased By 342.7 (3.01%)
BR30 36,377 Increased By 1165.1 (3.31%)
KSE100 109,513 Increased By 3238.2 (3.05%)
KSE30 34,513 Increased By 1160.1 (3.48%)
World

India’s Modi urges peace ahead of Ukraine visit

Published August 22, 2024
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (R) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi address a press conference after talks at the Polish Prime Minister’s Office in Warsaw, Poland on August 22, 2024. Photo: AFP
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (R) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi address a press conference after talks at the Polish Prime Minister’s Office in Warsaw, Poland on August 22, 2024. Photo: AFP

WARSAW: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said no conflict could be resolved on a battlefield as he spoke in Poland on the eve of his historic visit to war-torn Ukraine.

Modi will be the first Indian premier to make a Ukraine trip and is the first in 45 years to visit Poland, Kyiv’s loyal ally that is a key transit for foreign leaders heading to its war-torn neighbour.

The Indian government has avoided explicit condemnations of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, instead urging both sides to resolve their differences through dialogue.

“It is India’s strong belief that no problem can be resolved on a battlefield,” Modi said in Warsaw, adding his country supports “dialogue and diplomacy for restoration of peace and stability as soon as possible”.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk welcomed Modi and his delegation at the seat of government, with flags of both countries hoisted outside the building and their anthems played by the military band.

Indian PM Modi lands in Warsaw for landmark Poland, Ukraine visi

“History has taught our nations the importance of respecting the rules, respecting borders, territorial integrity,” Tusk said as he spoke to reporters alongside the Indian leader.

Tusk also added that Modi “reaffirmed his willingness to commit himself personally to a peaceful, just, quick end to the war”.

After the talks, Modi will lay a wreath at a war memorial in central Warsaw before heading for talks with Polish President Andrzej Duda.

Later on Thursday the Indian leader is expected to leave the Polish capital to travel to neighbouring Ukraine for his first visit to the country fighting to stave off the Russian invasion.

Modi has trodden a delicate balance between maintaining India’s historically warm ties with Russia while courting closer security partnerships with Western nations as a bulwark against regional rival China.

“As a friend and partner, we hope for an early return of peace and stability in the region,” Modi said in a statement published Wednesday before his departure for Poland.

In Kyiv, Modi will hold talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky and “share perspectives on peaceful resolution of the ongoing Ukraine conflict,” the statement added.

‘Drastic expansion’

On Wednesday, Modi commemorated an Indian maharaja who sheltered Polish children during World War II, laying flowers at the marble lotus-crowned monument erected in Warsaw in honour of the maharaja.

In a little-known story linking the two nations, the maharaja hosted Polish children in what is now Gujarat – Modi’s home state where he was chief minister before launching national political career.

The Indian leader announced a youth exchange programme named after the maharaja, under which 20 Polish young people would be invited to India each year.

“We are finally starting to have the right level of political and diplomatic relations,” Polish deputy foreign minister Wladyslaw Teofil Bartoszewski said about the visit.

He said Warsaw was counting on cooperation with India in “in the agricultural sector, in the IT sector, in the security sector, in the new technology sector, especially green technology”.

Modi on Wednesday delivered a speech in Hindi to the Indian community in Warsaw, promising “a drastic expansion of Indian economy in coming years”.

He is expected to meet with Leszek Balcerowicz, a former Polish finance minister and free market pioneer who steered Poland’s economic transition from communism to capitalism in early 1990s.

According to the Indian Embassy, Modi will also meet captains of kabaddi teams – a tag-meets-rugby contact team sport rooted in Indian mythology and said to date back 5,000 years.

Comments

200 characters