Ukraine's deputy foreign minister to visit India on Sunday

The first deputy foreign minister of war-torn Ukraine, Emine Dzhaparova, is set to commence her four-day visit to India on Sunday to discuss bilateral relations as well as global issues of mutual interest, as per PTI. Dzhaparova will reportedly meet Deputy National Security Adviser Vikram Misri and Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture Meenakshi Lekhi during her visit.

• The visit by Dzhaparova comes at a time when Ukraine has been fighting back the armed invasion from Russia, which started last year in February.
• It is worth noting that India has so far not criticized its old ally, Moscow, for its aggression on Kyiv but has pursued a diplomatic solution while further boosting its purchases of Russian oil.

During her visit, the Ukranian minister is expected to seek humanitarian aid and equipment in order to help repair energy infrastructure damaged in ongoing Russia's invasion, reported The Hindu. Dzhaparova is also set to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Kyiv. Meanwhile, the Indian Council of World Affairs, a think tank, tweeted that it would host a talk with Dzhaparova on Tuesday.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) also announced Dzhaparova's in an official statement on Saturday by saying, "The First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Emine Dzhaparova will be on an official visit to India from April 9 to 12." It further confirmed Dzhaparova would hold talks with MEA Secretary (West) Sanjay Verma to discuss the current situation in Ukraine.

"India shares warm and friendly relations and multifaceted cooperation with Ukraine. Over the last 30 years of establishing diplomatic relations, bilateral cooperation between the two countries has made significant progress in the areas of trade, education, culture, and defense," news outlet NDTV quoted an official government statement as saying. "The visit will be an occasion to further mutual understanding and interests," it added.

Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, PM Modi has had talks with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy on a number of occasions. In a telephonic conversation with President Zelenskyy in October last year, Modi said there could be "no military solution" to the conflict, adding India was prepared to contribute toward any peace efforts.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday, urging him to reason with their ally Russia and help in putting an end to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. As per the news agency Reuters, Xi assured Macron that he hoped the two nations could hold peace discussions as soon as possible.

Taking to Twitter, Macron said, "I am convinced that China has a major role to play in building peace. This is what I have come to discuss, to move forward on." "With President XI Jinping, we will also talk about our businesses, the climate and biodiversity, and food security," the 45-year-old French president further wrote.