India can host 2nd Ukraine peace summit: Zelenskyy
The inaugural peace summit was held at a resort near Lucerne in Switzerland in June that was attended by more than 90 countries and global institutions with a sole focus on bringing peace to Ukraine
PTI
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PM Narendra Modi interacts with Ukrainian students who are learning Hindi language at the School of Oriental Studies, in Kyiv, Ukraine. PHOTO: PTI
Kyiv, 23 Aug
In a significant
move, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday proposed India among a
handful of Global South countries for hosting the second Ukraine peace summit
and conveyed his idea to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The inaugural
peace summit was held at a resort near Lucerne in Switzerland in June that was
attended by more than 90 countries and global institutions with a sole focus on
bringing peace to Ukraine.
At a media
briefing, Zelenskyy said he told Prime Minister Modi that the peace summit
could be hosted in India. "As for the Peace Summit, I truly believe that
the second Peace Summit has to take place. It would be good if it could be held
in one of the Global South countries," he said.
"We are very
open to it. There are countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Türkiye and
Switzerland. We are currently talking to those countries on hosting the peace
summit," Zelenskyy said.
"I told Prime
Minister Modi that we could have the Global Peace Summit in India. It's a big
country, it's a great democracy - the largest one," he said.
However, at the
same time, the Ukrainian president said it would not be possible to host the
summit in a country that has not joined the communique of the last peace
summit.
India had attended
the first edition of the summit but refrained from associating itself with the
communique that emerged from the deliberations.
New Delhi asserted
that it will remain engaged with all stakeholders to facilitate a peaceful
resolution to the Ukraine conflict.
The summit
concluded with dozens of countries throwing their support to Ukraine's
"territorial integrity" and calling for talks among all parties to
find a lasting solution to the conflict.
Modi on Friday
conveyed to Zelenskyy that both Ukraine and Russia should sit together without
wasting time to end the ongoing war and that India was ready to play an
"active role" to restore peace in the region.
His nearly
nine-hour visit to Ukraine, the first by an Indian prime minister since its
independence in 1991, came six weeks after he held summit talks with Russian
President Vladimir Putin that triggered anguish in some Western countries.
"I have come
with a message of peace..I want to assure you and the entire global community
that India is committed to respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity
(of states) and it is of utmost importance to us," Modi told Zelenskyy
during the talks.
The prime minister
also asserted India's strong commitment towards respecting the sovereignty and
territorial integrity of states.
"I want to
assure you and the entire global community that India is committed towards
respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity (of states) and it is of
utmost importance to us," he said.
Zelenskyy said
India supports Ukraine's national sovereignty and territorial integrity and it
is "critical because everyone in the world must equally respect the UN
Charter."
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