India is a global leader and can help in addressing key global challenges and promoting peace, Ukraine’s First Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova said on Monday and invoked Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message to Russian President Vladimir Putin in September last year that ‘today’s era is not of war’.
After briefing Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs Sanjay Verma, Dzhaparova said she updated the Indian side on Ukraine’s efforts to fight Russia’s “unprovoked aggression” and invited New Delhi to join President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s peace formula and the grain initiative.
Dzhaparova said it is important to have India on board.
At the same time, she also said that Ukraine is not in a position to instruct India on its economic relations with other countries, in an apparent reference to New Delhi’s energy ties with Moscow.
Dzhaparova’s visit to India is the first from Ukraine after Russia began its invasion of the east European country on February 24 last year.
Replying to a question during a brief interaction with reporters after meeting Verma, Dzhaparova described India as a global leader and a ‘Vishwaguru’ which can play a role in addressing global challenges.
“I think India is a global player. It is really a ‘Vishwaguru’ of the world. We are feeling the pain by actually fighting for the values. This is about justice.”
