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Modi's visit to Ukraine not sign India abandoning Russia — ex-envoy

"Our friendship with Russia is long standing while our partnership with it is strategic and deep rooted," Ajai Malhotra added

NEW DELHI, August 26. /TASS/. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Kiev last week does not mean that India is turning its back on Russia, as some in the Western media have suggested, a well-known Indian diplomat, India’s former Ambassador to Russia, and former Chairman of the UN Human Rights Council Advisory Committee Ajai Malhotra told a TASS correspondent.

"Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Ukraine is not a signal that India is turning away from Russia," Malhotra said.

"India’s ties with Russia and Ukraine have from the outset been at distinctly different levels. Our friendship with Russia is long standing while our partnership with it is strategic and deep rooted; it is much less so where Ukraine is concerned," the official added.

He went on to say that New Delhi is interested in cooperation with Ukraine in certain areas and intends to maintain open and friendly contacts. "This becomes more so as India has consistently backed peace and dialogue to resolve the Ukrainian crisis and such an approach also motivates this visit," Malhotra pointed out.

The former ambassador emphasized that India is not only a rising power in the growing multipolar world, but also an important leader in the global South, where many countries face food, health and energy challenges "in some cases arising from the Ukraine crisis." India therefore discussed a peaceful resolution of this crisis.

"Overall, India’s recent engagement with Ukraine should be viewed through such a prism and should not get misconstrued or over-interpreted," the agency source said.

On August 23, Modi came to Kiev on a visit, the first for an Indian head of government since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1992.

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