India and Ukraine have a longstanding relationship. During the Soviet era and after it, the two countries have had a record of partnership, trade, and friendship.
Formal cooperation between the two countries now encompasses areas as diverse as cultural exchange, space technology and agricultural trade. The bedrock of Ukraine’s trading relationship with India is in the agricultural sector, which accounted for over $2 billion worth of exports to India in the year leading up to the war, the vast majority of which was of vegetable oil.
Despite being thousands of miles away, the Russian invasion of Ukraine two years ago was a severe blow to India as well. The current conflict is not relevant just for Ukraine, Europe, or even the Global North. This is not a proxy-war as Russian commentators would have you believe; this is a battle for the independence of Ukraine.
Families have been destroyed, historic towns and villages have been turned into rubble and innocent civilians continue to be killed. The need for global leaders to be vocal in their support for Ukraine has never been greater. Only this week have we seen Russian missiles target a children’s hospital, killing innocents trapped in this war.
Narendra Modi hugging Vladimir Putin in Russia. (Photo: Narendra Modi/ X)
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy highlighted his disappointment at seeing Prime Minister Narendra Modi embracing the Russian president, stating “it is a huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts to see the leader of the world’s largest democracy hug the world’s most bloody criminal in Moscow…”
Modi must do what India has done for generations and take the side of the innocents and defend the values by which we all live by. Just this week, the White House, in press remarks as the US hosts the NATO summit in Washington, reiterated India’s unique position, holding close ties with Moscow and called on Modi to “lean on” the Russian president to promote peace. It is true that India is a strategic partner to both sides, and is in the best position to enable a full and frank discussion on the ending of this invasion.
Modi’s visit to Moscow this week must be used as an opportunity to deliver the clear message that the world is tired of Vladimir Putin’s imperialist games. They are failing, and no number of excuses can account for the killing of children in a hospital or the continued onslaught on the people of Ukraine.
He must also emphasise the global effects the war brings on India itself, and other third-party nations. Putin’s imperialist war has disrupted the global food trade and caused hardship to hundreds of millions of Indian families. Bilateral trade also plummeted by 30 per cent when Russia ended the Black Sea Grain Initiative last summer. Worldwide, the disruption Russian aggression has caused to traditional supply chains has pushed 70 million people to the brink of starvation.
Ukraine is determined not to let some of the most vulnerable people in the world become unnecessary victims of Russia’s war. President Zelenskyy launched the “Grain from Ukraine” initiative in November 2022, working with the UN World Food Programme to provide a lifeline to those at a risk of extreme hunger and famine, predominantly living in the Global South.
Since then, 10 shipments have transported 2,30,000 tonnes of wheat and grain to those who need it most, with recent shipments to Nigeria and Sudan acting as a lifeline to people impacted by conflict at home as well as overseas. Their consideration of others, even under a constant barrage of invasion, is a reminder why countries, like India, who share this generous nature, must be vocal in their support for the survival of this independent nation.
The people of Ukraine recognise the steadfast support India has provided in their hour of need, including sending medical equipment which has saved the lives of soldiers and civilians. It is time India offered the same support diplomatically.
Whilst welcoming the work India has already done to move towards a sustainable peace, President Zelenskyy has asked PM Modi for his support in delivering the Ukrainian Peace Formula, the only way of delivering a just and lasting end to this horrific war. Putin’s efforts to label this as a “proxy-war” against the West needs to be called out as the fabrication it is. This is a war of imperialist expansion, something that countries like India fought so hard to end in the twentieth century.
India knows too well the damage that war can bring. It is time to put an end to this humanitarian catastrophe. It’s time for leading powers to take the lead in shaping the future of the world. It’s time for India to take centre stage.
The writer is an academic with extensive experience of leading initiatives in developing countries, and a former holder of senior positions in the UN. He is a goodwill ambassador for President Zelenskyy’s Office, for the Grain from Ukraine programme
