Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Will Visit Ukraine A Month After Meeting Putin

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi/PHOTO via Instagram @narendramodi

JAKARTA - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Ukraine. This is his first trip to the war-torn country since the conflict with Russia and about a month after he met with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

Details of the trip will be shared on Monday, August 19, the foreign ministry said. Modi will also visit Poland.

Indian media reported Modi was expected to visit the two countries, possibly from August 21 to 23.

As reported by Reuters on Monday, August 19, Modi's visit to Kyiv, Indian analysts said, aims to control the adverse effects of his trip to Moscow, which coincided with the deadly attack on children's hospitals in the Ukrainian capital, which embarrassed him and drew strong criticism from President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Modi traveled published to Moscow on July 8-9, where India and Russia seek to increase bilateral trade and cooperation in various fields ranging from nuclear energy to medicine.

However, the visit made headlines because it coincided with the attack on hospitals in Kyiv, thus encouraging Modi to use emotional language to convey a public warning implied to Putin at their summit.

Modi told Putin the deaths of innocent children were painful and frightening and reaffirmed New Delhi, Moscow and Kyiv's position had to resolve their conflict through dialogue and diplomacy, saying solutions were impossible on the battlefield.

Modi's visit also coincided with the NATO summit on July 9-10 in Washington where allies moved to support Ukraine and fight Russia.

The US said it raised concerns to India about its relationship with Russia, but also said the relationship gave New Delhi the ability to urge Putin to end the war.

India's important diplomats have since held regular talks with their Ukrainian counterparts, and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar called Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to discuss further development of bilateral relations.