India was non-committal on the participation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the G20 summit in September, days after Ukraine's First Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova said that he will be happy to address it.
In an address at a think-tank in Delhi, Dzhaparova on April 11 said Zelenskyy would be happy to speak at the summit just like he did during the Bali summit of the grouping last November.
The Ukranian President addressed the Bali summit through video conference. India is holding the current presidency of the G20 and will host the summit of the grouping in September in Delhi.
When asked about Dzhaparova’s comments, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on April 13 referred to remarks by Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra on the invitations.
“As far as Ukraine’s invitation is concerned, see, during the presser that we did at the time of the launch of the G20 presidency, it was made clear as to which nations are invited as guests, including obviously, the G20 members,” Kwatra told reporters on March 1.
“The list of those countries was shared with you. We have not made any changes or addition to that list,” he said.
Besides the G20 countries, India has invited Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Spain and the United Arab Emirates as guest countries.
“I think we have answered this question in the past, including by the foreign secretary. I have nothing to add to that for the moment in terms of participation,” Bagchi said when asked whether India will invite the Ukrainian President to participate at the G20 summit.
Asked about Dzhaparova’s comments during her visit to New Delhi that some of India’s actions demonstrate its unbalanced position on Ukraine, Bagchi chose not to respond directly but asserted that India has been pushing for peace.
In her comments, the first deputy minister specifically mentioned visits to Moscow by senior Indian ministers and officials and wondered why they did not travel to Kyiv.
“Our position on the conflict in Ukraine has been articulated many times. I do not know the word unbalance ..is not something that we have worked with. We certainly worked towards peace and dialogue and diplomacy. It is what we have been stressing …will not respond without knowing the full context,” he said.
During her visit, Dzhaparova handed over a letter to the Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture Meenakshi Lekhi. The letter was written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by Zelenskyy.
Asked about the content of the letter, Bagchi chose not to comment.
Since the Ukraine conflict began in February last year, Modi spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as Zelenskyy a number of times.
In a phone conversation with Zelenskyy on October 4 last year, Modi said that there can be “no military solution” and that India is ready to contribute to any peace efforts.
India has not yet condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and it has been maintaining that the crisis must be resolved through diplomacy and dialogue.
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