Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently reached Ukraine via Rail Force One from Poland and met President Volodymyr Zelensky in the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine war. As soon as PM Modi met the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, he gave him a consoling hug and also saw the children who died in the Russian attack. It was the first time an Indian Prime Minister reached Ukraine since the country's 1991 independence from the Soviet Union. PM Modi's visit to Ukraine came months after he visited Moscow after taking office for the third consecutive time. PM Modi's visit to Moscow was criticised by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, the Indian Prime Minister chose diplomacy over taking anything personally. In the meanwhile, the global media has strongly reacted to PM Modi-Volodymyr Zelensky's meeting in Ukraine. Below is what the global media is saying on Volodymyr Zelensky-PM Modi meeting-
Washington Post reaction on Modi-Zelensky meeting
"A month after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a controversial trip to Moscow, he urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a meeting in Kyiv on Friday to hold direct talks with Russia on ending the war in Ukraine, while Zelensky highlighted India’s potentially key position in helping stop the conflict.
On Friday, Zelensky and Indian officials struck a conciliatory tone as Modi presented himself on his first trip to Ukraine as a neutral peacemaker and a leader with international clout. Modi urged Zelensky to sit for dialogue with Putin and added that he had “looked [Putin] in the eye” and made a similar entreaty for talks with Zelensky."
BBC Reaction on Modi-Zelensky Meeting
"India had never been neutral in the war, he [PM Modi] insisted. 'Right from the first day our side was peace,' Mr Modi argued, pointing out that he came from the land of Mahatma Gandhi, whose statue in Kyiv he visited earlier. But behind the language, the fact remains that India has never condemned Russia's full scale invasion and, in effect, has been helping to power Moscow's war economy with Delhi overtaking Beijing last month as the biggest importer of Russian oil - at a time it has been hit by Western sanctions."
Nikkei Asia
"Despite Western pressure, India has not explicitly condemned traditional ally and weapons supplier Russia for invading Ukraine. Instead, it has repeatedly called for resolving the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy. At the same time, the South Asian country has been doing brisk business with Moscow, particularly through buying discounted Russian oil."
New York Times Reaction on Modi-Zelensky Meeting
NYT reported, “Modi has carefully calibrated his country’s relations with the two warring nations.” It quoted Harsh V. Pant, a professor of international relations at King’s College London as saying that Modi’s Kyiv visit was “about positioning India as a voice of the global south” on the war in Ukraine.
Global Times Reaction on Modi-Zelensky Meeting
The Chinese state-run media Global Times posted a report with the title, "Modi’s Kyiv visit 'a symbolic gesture' for peace talk" said that the visit is framed as "an effort to balance its relations between the US and Russia", particularly in light of the criticism India faced for Modi’s recent visit to Russia. The report quoted Cui Heng, a research fellow at the Center for Russian Studies at East China Normal University, told the outlet that India’s limited collective support and the scarce resources it can allocate to global issues like the Russia-Ukraine conflict make its potential role in mediation relatively limited.
Moscow Times
Moscow Times wrote, "…while Modi’s visit may be interpreted as a gesture of support for Kyiv in its fight against Russian forces, it’s important to recall that he visited Moscow in early July after his re-election for a third term—a move widely perceived as defying the free world."