00:00Prime Minister Narendra Modi now has met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
00:06Prime Minister Modi writes, met President Volodymyr Zelensky in Avion.
00:09In recent times, India and Ukraine have been engaging extensively.
00:13This has been reflected in different areas of our cooperation.
00:17Our talks today were about reviewing different aspects of our cooperation.
00:21We both agree that trade ties need to be restored to what they were in the pre-war time.
00:27Also reiterated that India will always be at the side of peace, placing the values of humanity over everything else.
00:35And the Ukrainian Prime Minister has also tweeted about this meeting where he says,
00:41Importantly, the Prime Minister is interested in developing mutually beneficial relations with Ukraine
00:47and sees this partnership can make our people stronger.
00:53This is an important point that has been made here by Zelensky where he says,
00:57Our countries have great potential for cooperation and we are already implementing joint projects.
01:03That's right. I'm being joined by Arun Kumar Sharma.
01:07He's a Senior Associate and Chair on India and Emerging Asia Economics,
01:11Centre for Strategic and International Studies and Honorary Senior Advisor at the USISPF.
01:17Mr Sharma, thank you so much for joining us.
01:19Let's begin with the fact that there have been crucial meetings on the sidelines of the G7,
01:24but beginning with what you're seeing right now, a meeting with the Ukrainian President,
01:29even as India plays a very important role in terms of engagements with Russia and with Ukraine.
01:36What's your reading?
01:38I think it's an important gesture and development for India on the part of PM Modi.
01:45We cannot forget the role that Ukraine played in evacuating 20,000 Indian medical students
01:53from the front lines of the most volatile part of the border at the beginning of the war.
01:58And this is a particularly important meeting given our continued good relations with both sides.
02:06And it's really an important task for both the Honourable Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister
02:13to make sure that we manage good relationships with both sides who are currently at war
02:19but happen to be friends and important for India.
02:22And I think it's also quite significant that the way Prime Minister Modi handled this meeting
02:32was done very skillfully to make sure that we are not taking any sides in the war
02:38because really it's a conflict between two very important friends of India.
02:43And we really want to stress the fact that we'd much rather wish for peace amongst our common friends
02:49and that the economic and diplomatic and political benefits of peace are arrived at as soon as possible.
02:58So I think it was a very carefully, I would say, orchestrated and executed meeting with President Zelensky.
03:08And I think it's very much consistent with the continued ability of India to maintain good ties with two opposing
03:19sides.
03:19And we have to do that in multiple situations.
03:21We've been doing that during Cold War.
03:24We've been doing that between Israel and West Asia.
03:27We've been doing that between Iran and the United States.
03:31So we end up as a peace-loving nation in a very difficult situation at times when our friends are
03:39at war with each other.
03:40But we have to be making sure that we are on the right side of both.
03:45All right, Mr. Sharma, I really appreciate your time.
03:47Thank you for joining us.
03:48So, Prime Minister Modi and President Zelensky having that meeting on the sidelines of G7.
03:53A word, Gita, now finally from you about the series of meetings that the Prime Minister has had here in
04:00Avian.
04:01But of all these meetings, the meeting with the UK Prime Minister where they went ahead and made that announcement
04:08that from 15th July onwards that entire trade agreement will come into force to the meeting with US President
04:16and now with President Zelensky.
04:18What all do you think is left in this itinerary?
04:21Well, it was a packed schedule.
04:22What is left now is that Prime Minister Modi from this meeting will be now departing for Paris.
04:29He's going to Paris to engage with the Indian diaspora.
04:32That's India's soft power policy that India, the Indian Premier has always maintained.
04:37Everywhere he goes, he ensures that he engages the Indian diaspora, which is what he's going to do
04:42before he really calls it a day and leaves for India.
04:47So that's going to be an important engagement.
04:49We'll be following very closely.
04:50But over here at the G7 summit and even the fact that he ensured that with France, he clubs the
04:58Slovakia visit and went there as well.
05:01Massive supply chain resilience conversations.
05:05And the fact that there have been consecutive invitations to India in the G7 block, Maria,
05:11clearly shows that India has gained in importance and strength in such important blocks such as the G7.
05:18And he's met almost every leader on the sidelines, not just the UAE president, the UK president, Canadian prime minister,
05:26but also European Union president and commissioner.
05:30So very important meetings.
05:32But the final one with Donald Trump and now with Zelensky clearly.
05:36Perhaps the icing on the cake.
05:37Yes.
05:37Yes.
05:37Yes.
05:37Yes.
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