While thanking New Delhi for its humanitarian aid, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal called on India to “join forces” to stop the Russian invasion when he met Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar on Wednesday.

“I stressed the need to join forces to stop Russia’s war on Ukraine” and “thanked the Indian government and people for the humanitarian assistance,” Shmyhal tweeted after meeting on the sidelines of the General Assembly high-level meeting.

Their meeting came on the eve of a Security Council meeting on Ukraine, which Jaishankar is expected to attend.

Jaishankar tweeted about their meeting and said he thanked the Ukrainian leader “for sharing his perspectives and assessment of the ongoing conflict.”

“Their implications are discussed, including for food security, energy security and nuclear safety,” he added.

Shmyhal also tweeted that he counted on India’s support for the Black Sea Corridor for the export of food grains from his country and for the demilitarization of the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) area.

Europe’s largest nuclear facility is under Russian occupation and has been threatened by shelling around it.

While India has remained neutral on the Russian invasion and abstained on Council and Assembly votes condemning Moscow, it has provided humanitarian aid to Ukraine and recently agreed with the West on a procedural vote to evict Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to invite them to address the Council from afar, despite Russia’s opposition.

In what is probably the most potent public statement on the invasion, Modi said at his meeting in Samarkand with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week: “Today’s era is not an era of war. We discussed this with you several times on the phone, this democracy, diplomacy and dialogue affects the whole world.”

But it remains to be seen whether this would lead to a change in India’s position and votes at the United Nations.

Zelensky is expected to address the gathering Wednesday after the gathering, having received special permission to speak

Jaishankar was having an impromptu meeting with the Dominican Republic’s foreign minister, Roberto Alvarez, when he ran into him at the UN headquarters.

“Good to meet my friend,” Jaishankar tweeted, adding, “Our new resident embassy (in Santo Domingo) is a sign of our growing cooperation” with the Dominican Republic.

Jaishankar also participated in an interactive discussion at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs organized by Aravind Panagariya, the director of the Deepak and Neera Raj Center on Indian Economic Policies at the university and a former vice chair of the Niti Aayog .

(Arul Louis can be contacted at [email protected] and followed at @arulouis)

–IANS

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