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India non-committal on Ukraine’s participation in G20 meetings
Ukraine’s first deputy foreign minister Emine Dzhaparova had raised both the participation of her country in G20 meetings and a virtual address by Volodymyr Zelenskyy during her visit to New Delhi this week.
NEW DELHI: India was on Thursday non-committal about the possible participation of Ukrainian officials in meetings under the country’s G20 presidency and an address by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the G20 Summit, as it reiterated that the list of guest countries had already been decided.
Ukraine’s first deputy foreign minister Emine Dzhaparova had raised both the participation of her country in G20 meetings and a virtual address by Zelenskyy during her visit to New Delhi this week. Dzhaparova, the first Ukrainian leader to visit India since the start of the Russian invasion last year, also delivered a letter from Zelenskyy to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
External affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi was non-committal on these issues at a weekly media briefing, and referred reporters to remarks made by foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra at an earlier briefing on March 1.
“I think we have answered this question in the past, including by the foreign secretary. To be honest, I have nothing to add to that for the moment in terms of participation,” Bagchi said.
When Kwatra was asked last month about Ukraine’s participation in G20 meetings in India, he replied that New Delhi had already finalised the list of guest countries invited to join gatherings of the 20 largest economies. “As far as Ukraine’s invitation is concerned, during the presser that we did at the time of launch of the G20 presidency, it was made clear as to which nations are invited as guests,” he had said.
“The list of those countries was shared with you. We have not made any changes or addition in that list,” Kwatra had said.
The nine guest countries invited to the G20 meetings include close partners of India such as Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates and key players from different regions such as Egypt, Singapore and the Netherlands.
Bagchi also declined to share the contents of Zelenskyy’s letter to Modi. Dzhaparova, however, said Zelenskyy sought a phone conversation with Modi and also invited the Indian premier to visit Kyiv. She said publicly that Ukraine is keen to see its officials participate in G20 meetings hosted by India, and that Zelenskyy will be happy to virtually address the G20 Summit in September, just as he had spoken at the last leaders’ summit in Bali last November.
Bagchi noted Dzhaparova’s comments about wanting Modi to visit Ukraine but said “such high-level visits are not announced in this manner”. Bagchi further said India has articulated its position on the conflict in Ukraine many times and rejected suggestions that the country’s approach is “unbalanced”.
“We certainly have worked towards peace, and dialogue and diplomacy is what we have been stressing,” he said.
Dzhaparova noted in her public remarks that National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval visited Russia three times in recent months and suggested that there should be a balance through a visit to Kyiv. She also said Ukraine wants to start a security dialogue at the level of NSAs.
Given its long-standing strategic and defence ties with Russia, India has not publicly denounced the invasion of Ukraine or voted in favour of resolutions condemning Moscow’s actions at UN bodies. India has also ramped up purchases of discounted Russian crude.
Dzhaparova had acknowledged New Delhi’s traditional relations with Moscow and said her visit was aimed at bringing Ukraine and India closer.
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