WARSAW, Aug 21: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Warsaw on Wednesday for a historic visit to Poland before travelling on to Ukraine later this week to campaign for a "peaceful resolution" of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Modi will be the first Indian premier to visit Ukraine and first in 45 years to travel to Poland, Ukraine's staunch ally and neighbour, and a key transit for foreign leaders heading to Kyiv.
He is expected to meet with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Andrzej Duda on Thursday, as well as with Indian nationals living in the Central European country. Poland "needs a lasting partnership with India," deputy Prime Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz told reporters before Modi's visit.
Modi has trodden a delicate balance between maintaining India's historically warm ties with Russia while courting closer security partnerships with Western nations as a bulwark against regional rival China.
His government has avoided explicit condemnations of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, instead urging both sides to resolve their differences through dialogue. —AFP
