Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Ukraine, the foreign ministry announced on Monday. This will be his first visit to Ukraine since the war with Russia began, and it comes about a month after his meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
Details of the trip will be shared later, with plans for Modi to also visit Poland. Indian media reports suggest the visit will take place from August 21 to 23.
Analysts believe Modi’s visit to Kyiv aims to address the fallout from his Moscow trip, which happened at the same time as a deadly attack on a children’s hospital in Kyiv. This incident embarrassed Modi and led to strong criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
During his Moscow visit on July 8-9, India and Russia focused on strengthening trade and cooperation. However, the timing of the visit, coinciding with the hospital strike, made headlines. Modi expressed his concern about the loss of innocent lives and emphasized that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.
Modi’s visit also happened alongside the NATO summit in Washington, where allies discussed support for Ukraine and efforts to counter Russia.