Emine Dzhaparova, Ukraine’s First Deputy Foreign Minister, asked New Delhi to forget about Ukraine’s past dealings with Pakistan over Kashmir and military supplies. She also asked that her country’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speak at the G20 meeting that will be held in India later this year.
She said that Ukraine had military contracts with Pakistan for many years, but she wanted both countries to “turn the page on history and build new relationships” because “Ukraine can now make things on its own.”
She made it clear that Ukraine’s links with Pakistan were not meant to hurt India, and she said that talks about Pakistan sending military supplies to Kyiv were in the past.
Union Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi brought up the background of the area when she talked about how Ukraine used to side with Pakistan over Kashmir. The visiting minister was given two books that were both about Kashmir. One was called “Two Plays: A City of Sorrow and Curse,” and it was written by Moti Lal Kemmu, who was from Kashmir. The other was called “Kalhana Rajatarangini,” and it was about the past of Kashmiri kings.
The minister said that she had asked India to join Zelenskyy’s “Peace Formula” and the “Grain from Ukraine” project. After meeting Lekhi, she said, “It’s important to have India on board.”
She also said that PM Narendra Modi’s strategy of democracy, dialogue, and diversity is important for Ukraine.
Dzhaparova met with Lekhi and asked for more help with aid work. She also met with Deputy National Security Adviser (NSA) Vikram Misri and invited NSA Ajit Doval to visit Ukraine.
When a Ukrainian minister went to India for the first time since the war with Russia started in February of last year, the government sent out mixed messages.
Instead of private think tanks like the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), the MEA-funded Indian Council of World Affairs was offered to Dzhaparova on Tuesday.
She was also asked to talk with people from the Manohar Parrikar Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis, which is another government-funded think tank.
But the minister, who became famous after taking a course at the US State Department, had no wiggle room when it came to following the rules. Doval, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra, and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who left for Africa on Sunday, did not meet her.
G20 should not get politicised: Kant
India has once again tried to stop the Ukraine war from turning the G20 into a political forum. It said that the success of India’s presidency of the group would be measured by how hard it worked for global goals instead of war. Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 Sherpa, said on Tuesday at the National Leadership Conclave of the All-India Management Association in Delhi that the G20 should not be politicized.
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