EAM Jaishankar to visit Ukraine, Poland from Sept 3-5; to hold bilateral talks with counterparts

During his visit, Jaishankar will hold bilateral consultations with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and Poland's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, according to an MEA press release.

The visit will focus on "enhancing bilateral relations" and provide an opportunity for the two sides to exchange views on "regional developments and issues of mutual interest," the MEA said.

The visit comes as Ukraine's First Deputy Head of the Office of the President, Sergiy Kyslytsya, held a "substantive meeting" with India's Ambassador to Ukraine, Anjani Kumar and discussed prospects for India-Ukraine relations, including New Delhi's role in efforts to end Russia's war against Ukraine.

In a post on X on Tuesday, Kyslytsya said the meeting was held along with Deputy Head of the Office of the President Oleksii Sobolev.

"Had a substantive meeting with India's Ambassador to Ukraine Anjani Kumar @sahayanjani, together with my colleague, Deputy Head of the Office of the President @OleksiiSobolev. We discussed prospects for Ukraine-India relations, including India's role in efforts to end Russia's war against Ukraine," he said.

Kyslytsya said they also exchanged views on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent message to Russian President Vladimir Putin that "the time has come to move from an endless war to an end of war."

"We look forward to continued dialogue with India and to translating this shared interest in peace into concrete steps," he said.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had said that an Indian citizen was among 12 people killed after Russia launched a massive aerial assault across Ukraine overnight.

"Overall, 12 people were killed, among them an Indian citizen, and dozens more were injured in the attack. My condolences to everyone who has lost family and loved ones," he said in a post on X.

The Indian embassy in Kyiv, following Zelenskyy's post, said that it is in touch with the family of the Indian national killed in the attack in Ukraine and is providing all possible assistance for early repatriation of the mortal remains.

The visit of Jaishankar to Poland also comes at a time of an expected visit of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to India.

Earlier, on August 20, Poland's Ambassador to India Piotr Antoni Switalski said that the Polish PM's expected visit to India will send a strong signal to business partners and stakeholders that cooperation between the two countries has the "green light."

Speaking at an event in the national capital, Switalski on Tusk's impending visit to India said, "We are very much for his visit. I think it was informally announced that there are plans. It is the continuation of our political dialogue."

"Prime Minister Modi was in Poland in 2024; they signed the strategic partnership. It will be the third visit, I think, of Prime Minister Tusk to India... like many foreign leaders, he's very fond of coming to India. He loves India," he added.

The ambassador said preparations for the visit were underway and expressed hope that it would further strengthen bilateral ties. (ANI)