Ukraine's deputy foreign minister on India visit, 1st after war

By Anadolu Staff

ANKARA (AA) - In the first such visit since the war with Russia, Emine Dzhaparova, Ukraine’s first deputy foreign minister, on Monday held a meeting with a senior Indian Ministry of External Affairs official in New Delhi.

Dzhaparova is on an official visit to India from April 9-12.

She will also meet Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture Meenakshi Lekhi and Deputy National Security Adviser Vikram Misri.

On Monday, Dzhaparova held a bilateral meeting with Sanjay Verma, a senior official at the Ministry of External Affairs.

"Discussed bilateral engagements and cooperation going forward. Wishing her a good trip. Her first as DFM, but a country she is familiar with," Verma wrote on Twitter.

Dzhaparova also tweeted about the meeting.

"Updated on Ukraine’s efforts to fight Russian unprovoked aggression. Invited (India) to join President Zelenskyy's PeaceFormula & GrainFromUkraine initiative. Important to have India on board," she wrote on Twitter.

Speaking to reporters outside the Foreign Ministry in New Delhi, Dzhaparova said: "I briefed the deputy minister about the military situation, which is quite difficult than the reality."

Stating that India as a "global player" is the Visha guru (teacher of the world), she added: "We (Ukraine) are the victims of the war, of unprovoked war, of the Neo-colonial war."

Asked about India importing energy from Russia, she said: "We are not in the position of instructing India, in their economic ties with other countries."

"We only think that it is crucial to diversify, all of the resources, not only energy but also military resources... I think that India should be pragmatic in diversifying the energy resources, in diversifying military contracts, in diversifying political interaction," she said.

Also, in an interview with broadcaster CNBC TV18, Dzhaparova said Kyiv is requesting a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other top officials to Kyiv.

"We are looking forward to welcoming him (Modi) in Kyiv one day," she said.

China and India accounted for 91% of Russia’s crude oil exports in March as Western sanctions led the country to almost totally shift its trade routes from Europe to Asia, according to data from energy analytics company Vortexa compiled by Anadolu.

Russia announced recently its new foreign policy concept and said “strengthening and deepening relations with China and India is a diplomatic priority” for the country.

The visit by the Ukrainian minister is the first official visit since the war began. Though India has refused to condemn Russia's war, it has been insisting on resolving the dispute through dialogue and diplomacy since the conflict began. India has been also buying Russian fuel at a discounted price.​​​​​​​