India is ready to provide all possible cooperation along with its friendly countries for peace & stability, says PM Modi
No problem can be solved on the battlefield, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Poland on Thursday (August 22, 2024), a day before his visit to Ukraine.
 
In his press statement after meeting Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw, Prime Minister Modi said India supports dialogue and diplomacy in conflict-hit Ukraine and West Asia.
 
He went on to list the innocent loss of lives in a crisis as the biggest challenge to humanity and said India would provide all possible cooperation to bring about peace and stability. 
 
On his part, Polish Prime Minister Tusk said that PM Modi was committed to the immediate resolution of the conflict in Ukraine. He also expressed the belief that India can play an important and positive role in this.
 
Describing the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and West Asia as a matter of deep concern for all, Prime Minister Modi said, "India firmly believes that no problem can be solved on the battlefield. The loss of innocent lives in any crisis has become the biggest challenge for the entire humanity".
 
Prime Minister Modi said India supports dialogue and diplomacy for the early restoration of peace and stability. "For this, India is ready to provide all possible cooperation along with its friendly countries," he added.
 
Prime Minister Modi's visit on August 23, 2024 comes amid the continuing Russia-Ukraine conflict which began in February 2022 and will take place a little over a month after he met Russian President Vladimir Putin while in Moscow on July 8-9, 2024. He had earlier met President Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Italy on June 14, 2024.
 
In addition to the meeting on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Apulia, Italy in June this year, Prime Minister Modi and President Zelenskyy also met in Hiroshima, Japan on the margins of the 2023 G7 Summit and in Glasgow, Scotland on the sidelines of the COP in 2021.
 
India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has described it as a landmark and a historic visit since this will be the first time an Indian PM will be visiting Ukraine in more than 30 years since diplomatic relations were established between the two countries.
 
The ongoing conflict in Ukraine will form part of the discussions between Prime Minister Modi and President Zelenskyy, in addition to different aspects of the India-Ukraine bilateral relationship. 
 
Responding to a question at a special media briefing on Monday (August 19, 2024), Secretary (West) MEA Tanmay Lal stated, “India has maintained a very clear and consistent position that diplomacy and dialogue can resolve this conflict (between Russia and Ukraine) and which can lead to enduring peace, so dialogue is absolutely essential. Lasting peace can only be achieved through options that are acceptable to both parties and it can only be a negotiated settlement.”