Prime Minister Narendra Modi (File Photo: PTI)
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has informed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Ukraine will cover a wide range of issues, including politics, trade, education and humanitarian assistance. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Modi will embark on a two-day tour of Poland, followed by a visit to the Ukrainian capital, kyiv, for talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The one-day visit to Ukraine will be the first by an Indian prime minister since formal diplomatic relations were established in 1992 and will have geopolitical value as Modi renews his call for dialogue and a non-military solution to the ongoing war, the sources said. Ukraine is currently in the midst of a strategic offensive in Russia’s Kursk region.
Modi’s visit to Ukraine comes close on the heels of his visit to Russia in July. Back then, Zelenskyy had called the meeting a “huge disappointment.” Meanwhile, Modi and Zelenskyy had met just a couple of months ago, in June, on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Italy. They had also met last year on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Japan.
Over the past two years, India has resisted Western pressure to halt crude purchases from its traditional partner Russia. Discounts on a steady stream of Russian crude have seen India’s crude import bill shrink 15.9% to $132.4 billion in fiscal year 2024 (2023-24), from $157.5 billion a year earlier, even as import volumes remained unchanged.
Meanwhile, India’s trade with the embattled country has declined since the war in Ukraine began in February 2022. Trade had peaked at $3.38 billion in fiscal year 2022. The vast majority of this $2 billion trade comprised imports of sunflower seed oil, which remains the country’s largest import item.
Until now, India had been dependent on Ukraine, the world’s largest traditional producer of cooking oil, for its shipments. But the war forced the government to turn to Russia, the second-largest producer of sunflower oil, as domestic prices for the edible oil rapidly rose to record highs in May-June 2022. New Delhi had sought special exemption or concessional rates for shipments after Russia imposed quotas on sunflower oil exports. By fiscal 2024, Russia was the largest source of cooking oil for India.
Trade ties with Poland
The visit to Poland is the first by an Indian prime minister in the past 45 years, at a time when the country has emerged as a major hub for Indian trade and investment in the Central European region. Poland is currently the sixth-largest economy in the European Union (EU) and will hold the next presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The visit, which marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with Poland, will seek to increase India’s presence in a key European economy that is positioning itself as a low-cost manufacturing and logistics hub on the continent.
According to officials in the Ministry of External Affairs, the talks will include increased defence cooperation as well as more bilateral trade ties in information technology, pharmaceuticals and automobile manufacturing. The country is already home to near-shoring operations of major Indian IT companies such as Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Technologies, Infosys and Wipro.
Manufacturing units of pharmaceutical company Ranbaxy, Berger Paints and equipment and car maker Escorts, among others, have also come up in the past decade. Officials said the country is keen to attract more Indian investments and has pitched itself as a cost-effective yet technology-driven manufacturing destination in Europe. In February, telecom equipment maker HFCL announced plans to set up an optical fibre cable plant in the country.
On the other hand, Poland’s foreign direct investment is the 34th largest among nations at $712 million. On Monday, Secretary (West) Tanmaya Lal said that nearly 30 Polish companies have a business presence in India. India has a positive trade balance with Poland, driven by a diversified export basket.
At the same time, the number of Indian citizens in Poland has increased to 25,000, including 5,000 students, many of whom decided to study in Poland after being evacuated from neighbouring Ukraine in 2022.
First published: August 20, 2024 | 19:50 IS
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