PM Modi has been on a spree meeting senior delegates from across the world during his visit to the G7 summit in Japan. Narendra Modi, besides meeting UK PM Sunak…and Biden…, held quite a rather humanitarian discussion with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It should be highlighted that this is the first time Modi is meeting Zelenskyy after Russian invasion. “PM @narendramodi held talks with President @ZelenskyyUa during the G-7 Summit in Hiroshima,” the prime ministers office tweeted.Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Hiroshima, Japan on Friday to attend the annual summit G7. In the first leg of his three-nation visit, PM Modi is also scheduled to visit Papua New Guinea and Australia. As per sources, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reached Japan following the invitation to attend the G7 Summit.PM @narendramodi held talks with President @ZelenskyyUa during the G-7 Summit in Hiroshima. pic.twitter.com/tEk3hWku7a— PMO India (@PMOIndia) May 20, 2023It is also anticipated that the summit which got underway on Friday is likely to be dominated by the Ukraine crisis. PM Modi has maintained since the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Samarkand last September that there has to be a cessation of hostilities in Ukraine. As per sources, PM Modi reiterated his position and said, “India stands on the side of peace, and will remain firmly there. We are committed to supporting those who face challenges in meeting their basic needs, especially in the face of rising costs of food, fuel and fertilisers. Cooperation and collaboration should define our times, not conflict.”The Ukraine conflict is also expected to take the front stage at the meeting, which began on Friday. Since the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation conference in Samarkand in September of last year, PM Modi has insisted that the fighting in Ukraine must end. On November 2, 2021, PM Modi and Zelensky had a meeting in Glasgow outside of the COP26 conference. Several times after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the “special military campaign” against Ukraine on February 24, 2022, he called Zelensky to discuss the state of affairs in Ukraine. Emine Dzhaparova, the first deputy foreign minister of Ukraine, came to this country in April and urged India to “balance” its relations by engaging with Ukraine.Earlier, it was expected that PM Modi will participate in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) on the sidelines of G7. according to the sources, the summit was earlier scheduled to happen in Sydney but was cancelled after US President Joe Biden called off his visit. it is also anticipated that members of Quad countries are likely to meet at around 8 pm on Saturday.
