Ahead of the visit of the Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi to Ukraine on August 23, 2024, the East European Development Institute hosted an online discussion on Ukraine-India Relations of experts, within the framework of its project “Ukraine and South Asia: Open Dialogues”, supported by the International Renaissance Foundation.
Most policy analysts are reserved about the possible outcomes of the visit. But the fact that this is the first ever visit by any Prime Minister of India since Ukraine’s independence in 1991 and the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Ukraine in 1992, this visit is historic.
Secondly, this visit will be historic because of its timing – when Ukraine is defending its territorial integrity and sovereignty following brutal attack by Russia since 2014.
Thirdly, the visit will encompass another state – Poland, a key ally of Ukraine. No Indian PM had visited Poland for the past 40 years.
It is high time to explore what lies ahead, what are the strategic priorities that India and Ukraine share and how will it impact bilateral relations further.
What immediate effect will the visit have on the peace conferences initiated by Ukraine?
Our distinguised panelists in this discussion were:
- Vadym Halaichuk, member of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) of Ukraine and the First Deputy Chairperson of the Committee on Integration of Ukraine into the EU, Co-chair of the Parliamentary Committee of the Ukraine-EU Association, member of the group on inter-parliamentary relations with India;
- Dr. Swasti Rao, Fellow at the Europe and Eurasia Centre, Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), India’s premier think tank under the aegis of Ministry of Defence;
- Dr Anastasia Piliavsky, Reader in Social Anthropology and Politics at the India Institute of King’s College London, researcher of India;
- Dr. Olena Bordilovska (Ph.D., D.Hab.), Head of the Department of New Challenges at the National Institute for Strategic Studies, Kyiv, Associate professor at Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University;
- Dr. Mridula Ghosh, Board Chair, EEDI, Associate Professor, National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy.
