NEW DELHI: A letter written by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking humanitarian aid including medical equipment from India was handed over by Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova to Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture, Meenakshi Lekhi during her four-day visit to India.
Dzhaparova met Lekhi on April 11 ahead of her address at the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA). ICWA in Delhi was set up exclusively to study international relations and foreign affairs.
Addressing the audience at the ICWA, Dzhaparova said India should recognise the dangers of not stopping those who prefer to push their agenda with impunity. The events leading to the Russian invasion of her country last year may be taken as an example of how to handle “difficult neighbours”, said Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister. She is the first high-ranking Ukrainian official to visit India ever since the Russia-Ukraine war broke out in February last year.
“India also has a difficult neighbourhood with China and Pakistan. The Crimea episode has a lesson for India as well. Whenever impunity happens and if it is not stopped, it becomes bigger,” said Ukraine’s deputy minister.
Her comments were seen as attributions to alleged disputes and incursions by Pakistan and China. Recently, China made irrelevant comments over Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh. It opposed the visit, claiming it was a “violation of Beijing’s territorial sovereignty”.
India dismissed China’s comments with Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi stating, “Indian leaders routinely travel to the state of Arunachal Pradesh as they do to any other state of India.”
In her address, Dzhaparova added that Ukraine wants closer ties with India.
