S. A. Hemanth
New Delhi, March 12: The youngest MP of Ukraine Sviatosolv Yurash hopes that the India – Ukraine relationship will evolve and mature so that New Delhi becomes more supportive of Kiev. “It is not only Russia but Ukraine too is the friend of India,” Yurash said, at the Raisina Dialogue in which he was a special invitee.
Yurash has fought in the Ukraine war himself and hence he is nick-named “the MP with AK – 47” He had visited India in 2015 as a student on an exchange programme at Calcutta University.
According to Yurash, there are thousands of Ukrainians like him who love India while thousands of Indian citizens who went to Ukraine to study chose to live on there, even after the government’s evacuation programme in March 2022.
“Moscow cannot claim a monopoly on the relationships of the Soviet Union,” Yurash said and added, “the lack of engagement between Kiev and New Delhi have led to the differences in position on war”
Yurash further said that he appreciated India’s humanitarian efforts and aid to Ukraine and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “era of war” statement last year.
“I want to stress that India’s traditional relationship with Russia, also included Ukraine as both were part of the erstwhile Soviet Union. We need to explain here in India our story, the relationship India had with the Soviet Union that included Ukraine. Russians do not have a monopoly on the old relationships of the Soviet Union era,” Yurash explained.
It is pertinent to mention here that in the past few months, the Ukrainian government has expressed its displeasure and disappointment with India, especially over India’s refusal to vote for resolutions criticizing Russia at the UN, in a number of ways.
When his attention was drawn towards his government’s decision to recall his country’s Ambassador to India and put three names of Indians in the blacklist including Chief of the National Security Advisory Board, Yurash said, “these incidents do not represent a strategic position in Ukraine, but more an emotional one, as there is some hurt over the war”
Before signing off his dialogue, Yurash said, “part of the message I take back to Kiev is that we must expand our engagement with India” and added, “Now that India is the President of G20, I would welcome a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi”
EOM
