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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make his first official visit to Ukraine on the 23rd. In a speech before his trip on the 22nd, Modi said: "India firmly believes that no problem can be solved on the battlefield." Previously, Modi, who had visited Russia and "embraced Russian President Vladimir Putin", was severely criticized by Ukrainian President Zelensky, and also caused diplomatic friction between India and Ukraine. Modi's visit to Ukraine this time has caused a lot of speculation. Indian media cheered this as a historic visit, believing that it reflects India's influence. Ukraine hopes to win more support from "global south" countries through Modi. Modi's visit to Ukraine comes at a time when Ukrainian troops have entered Russian territory and Russia refuses to have "any negotiations" with Ukraine. The Russian government has not yet expressed its position on Modi's visit to Ukraine. CNBC in the United States said that India is "walking a diplomatic tightrope."

Indian media hailed "historic visit"

"India firmly believes that no problem can be solved on the battlefield," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a speech in Poland on the eve of his historic visit to Ukraine on the 22nd, according to Reuters. He added that India supports "restoring peace and stability as soon as possible through dialogue and diplomacy." Modi will become the first Indian prime minister to visit Ukraine and the first Indian prime minister to visit Poland in 45 years. Poland is a staunch ally of Kiev and a key transit point for foreign leaders to visit war-torn Ukraine.

The Indian government has avoided explicitly condemning Russia since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine broke out in 2022, for which he has been criticized by Western media. On the 22nd, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk welcomed Modi and his entourage outside the government building. Speaking to reporters together with Modi, Tusk said: "History tells us that it is important for countries to respect rules, borders and territorial integrity." Tusk also said that Modi "reiterated his willingness to personally commit to a peaceful, just and quick end to the war."

Agence France-Presse said that Modi has been looking for a delicate balance between maintaining India's historically friendly relations with Russia and seeking a closer security partnership with Western countries to counter regional rivals. "As friends and partners, we hope that peace and stability will soon be restored in the region," Modi said in a statement before leaving for Poland and Ukraine on Wednesday. The statement also said that Modi will hold talks with President Zelensky in Kiev to "share views on a peaceful resolution to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine."

India's News Today reported that Modi will travel from Poland to Ukraine by train later on the 22nd, and he plans to visit Kiev for about a few hours. Indian Deputy Foreign Minister Tanmaya Lal said recently: "India is ready to provide all possible support and make necessary contributions to help find a peaceful solution to this complex issue."

Indian media hailed Modi's visit to Ukraine as a historic one. According to the Indian Press Trust (PTI) news network, before his first historic visit to Ukraine, Modi told local Indian expatriates in Warsaw on the evening of the 21st that India's foreign policy for decades has been to keep a distance from all countries, but now India's policy is "to maintain close contact with all countries." He also said that he would exchange views with Ukrainian President Zelensky on a peaceful resolution to the current conflict. According to reports, just nearly six weeks ago, he made a high-profile visit to Moscow and met with Putin, which drew criticism from the United States and some Western countries. When meeting with overseas Indians in Warsaw, Modi praised their contribution to strengthening bilateral relations and praised them for helping Ukrainians who fled their homes.

“Why are Russia’s strategic partners traveling to Ukraine and Poland?”

"Why are Russia's strategic partners going to Ukraine and Poland?" The Russian newspaper Kommersant reported with a questioning tone that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Kiev will make him the first foreign leader to visit Ukraine since the Ukrainian invasion of the Kursk region. Modi's new call for peace will not end the conflict, but for the Indian Prime Minister, the trip to Kiev has special significance because it shows that he is ready to take the opportunity to present the image of a world power leader against the backdrop of intensified conflicts with the opposition at home and the blow to India's image caused by the coup in neighboring Bangladesh. He is actively working to restore and consolidate his position, playing chess on multiple chessboards at the same time.

Diplomatic friction broke out in relations between India and Ukraine after Modi visited Moscow on July 8. Commenting on the meeting between Putin and Modi, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called it a "fatal blow to peace efforts." Subsequently, the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Ukrainian ambassador to New Delhi to protest.

However, the dispute and the invasion of the Kursk region by the Ukrainian armed forces on August 6 have greatly exacerbated the escalation of the situation, but these have not forced Modi to change his plans and abandon his visit to Kiev, the Kommersant newspaper said. The report said that although the Indian Prime Minister's visit to Ukraine is not good news for Moscow, Russian officials have not yet commented on it.

Earlier, the Russian newspaper Izvestia said that Modi's visit to Ukraine was just to show a balanced stance to the international community and that it was "meaningless" to stabilize the situation. The Russian newspaper Izvestia also quoted a member of the State Duma (lower house of parliament) as saying that Modi wanted to win the "crown of a peacemaker."

Is visiting Kiev a "strategic balancing act"?

Although Ukraine hopes to gain more support from the "global south" countries through Modi's visit, the Ukrainian news website "ukr.net" said that compared with the India-Russia relationship, the India-Ukraine relationship is far from being so close. Modi's visit cannot provide more substantial support to Ukraine, but may be sending a certain signal to the United States and other Western countries as a balancing measure for his visit to Russia in July to restore the bad impression of the West on him.

Reuters said that many analysts believed that Modi's brief visit to Kiev was an attempt to reduce the damage caused by his previous trip to Moscow. At the same time, as New Delhi moves closer to the West, especially the United States, the visit to Kiev is also a strategic balancing act.

However, the Russian news agency TASS said that the West might not allow Ukraine to follow India's advice. The Ukrainian army's attack on Kursk has made the prospects of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations complicated and difficult. The West is fueling the incident. This is a serious escalation of the conflict for Ukraine and the West, indicating that they do not want peace and have a negative attitude towards ending the conflict as soon as possible. Modi hopes to enhance India's influence in the "Global South" countries through this visit and make India the spokesperson of the "Global South".

The Russian website Argumenty i Fakty said that Modi's visit does not mean that India will provide diplomatic support to Ukraine in the conflict, but is more likely to show "closeness" to the United States and other Western countries. The United States was "very dissatisfied" with Modi's visit to Russia in July this year. Modi may use this visit to show goodwill to the West. He and Zelensky do not have much in common.