Amid the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Ukraine on Friday, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar stated that discussions between the Indian PM and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy focussed on strengthening bilateral relations. The talks covered a range of sectors including trade, economic issues, defence, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and education.

The remarks by EAM came while he addressed a press briefing in Kyiv.

Addressing the media, he asserted that PM Modi’s visit is a landmark as it is the first time an Indian Prime Minister has visited the country since the establishment of diplomatic ties. “As you know, Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Kyiv this morning and we’ve just concluded his official engagements. This is a landmark visit. It’s the first time that an Indian PM has visited Ukraine since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992.”

He added, “PM arrived by a special train in the morning and he was received by the First Deputy Foreign Minister at the Kyiv railway station. He met the Indian community… His last engagement is going on right now, which is that he’s meeting Ukrainian students who are studying Hindi.”

Elaborating on the discussions that took place between the two leaders, Jaishankar said, “In the discussion, a significant part of it was devoted to our bilateral relations. There was a discussion about trade, economic issues, defence, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, education. There were a whole lot of issues.”

The EAM also informed about an Intergovernmental Commission and said, “The leaders also tasked the Intergovernmental Commission, of which Minister Kuleba and I are the co-chairs, to specifically focus on rebuilding our trade and economic relations, which had gone down in recent times. And we certainly look forward to having an early meeting of that body, definitely by the end of this year.”

Jaishankar also spoke about the humanitarian assistance provided by India to Ukraine and said, “In the past, we have been providing humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, and I think, 17 consignments have been delivered so far to Ukraine largely in the medical side. India handed over Bhishm Cube of Medical assistance to Ukraine. They contain medical support equipment which are very effective, compact, and deployable in many ways. These cubes, with a total weight of 22 tons were handed today.”

Notably, PM Modi on Friday met with Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy for bilateral talks at the Mariinskyi Palace. PM Modi shared a warm embrace with Zelenskyy on his arrival at the Palace and also shook hands with various Ukrainian delegates present at the palace. The PM was accompanied by Foreign Minister S Jaishhankar, NS Ajit Doval and others.

Both leaders held a restricted meeting to discuss key issues. High-level delegation meetings followed, where important discussions on bilateral cooperation took place. Document exchanges to formalize agreements and collaborations between the two nations also took place.