Ukraine’s first ever Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova Monday said if India truly wants to become a ‘Vishwaguru’ (teacher of knowledge to the world), it should support Ukraine against Russian aggression. Dzhaparova, who is on a three-day visit to India, met Sanjay Verma, Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Monday. On Tuesday, she will be meeting Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture Meenakshi Lekhi and Deputy National Security Adviser (NSA) Vikram Misri.
“Happy to visit India – the land that gave birth to many sages, saints and gurus. Today, India wants to be the Vishwaguru, the global teacher and arbiter. In our case, we’ve got a very clear picture: Aggressor against innocent victim. Supporting Ukraine is the only right choice for true Vishwaguru,” she said as she began her first official engagements with the Indian government.
During her meeting with Verma, she asked India to join President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s 10-point peace plan as well as Ukraine's food programme — Grain from Ukraine initiative. She apprised New Delhi of Russia’s actions against her country in the past more than one year since the Russia-Ukraine war began in February 2020.
President Zelenskyy rolled out his 10-point peace plan late last year and had been hard-selling it to all the key global world leaders. He spoke about the peace plan for the first time at the G20 Summit that took place in Bali, Indonesia, in November 2020.
ZELENSKYY PROMOTING HIS PEACE PLAN TO WORLD LEADERS
According to official sources, Zelenskyy wants to reiterate the peace plan once again at the upcoming G20 Summit that is taking place under India’s Presidency this year.
While Russia has already rejected the peace plan, Zelenskyy had been aggressively promoting it to the world leaders, including to US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, among others.
The peace plan lays down an elaborate plan concerning the safety and security of nuclear plants, especially the nuclear power plant located in Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine, which is now occupied by Russia.
It also talks of restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity with Russia adhering to the UN charter, withdrawal of all Russian troops and reinstating Ukraine’s borders with Russia, providing security to Ukraine’s grain exports to other countries, among others.
Responding to media queries after her meeting with Verma, the Ukrainian minister said India should seek to diversify its military as well as energy resources by going for diversification and not depend on Moscow alone, else Russia will use it as a “blackmail instrument” against New Delhi.
“I think India should be pragmatic in diversifying energy resources, in diversifying military contracts, in diversifying political interaction … Extraordinary times require extraordinary decisions,” she said, adding that there should be more interaction between Kyiv and New Delhi. The Minister during her talks with the MEA officials also extended an invitation to PM Modi to visit Ukraine. She said Zelenskyy will soon extend an official invitation.
The MEA, while announcing her visit last week, said: “India shares warm and friendly relations and multifaceted cooperation with Ukraine. Over the last 30 years of establishing diplomatic relations, bilateral cooperation between the two countries has made significant progress in the areas of trade, education, culture and defence. The visit will be an occasion to further mutual understanding and interests.”