Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Ukraine on August 23: What does this visit mean?

“This is the first visit of the head of the Indian government to our country in the history of bilateral relations,” President Zelenskyy’s administration emphasized. Officials will discuss issues of bilateral and multilateral cooperation. In turn, Bloomberg claims that India agreed to pass messages between Zelenskyy and Putin, although Modi has ruled out the possibility of mediating an end to the war. According to the publication, Modi’s visit to Kyiv will last just a few hours due to security reasons. No important statements are expected at the meeting, but the parties are working on agreements in the agriculture and defense sectors. India is currently the largest importer of military equipment and weapons systems, and Modi wants to change this situation by stimulating domestic production of defense products. Ukrainian state company Zorya-Mashproekt is negotiating with Indian companies in the private sector regarding the joint production of gas turbines used on military ships. The two countries are also discussing the production of aircraft and aircraft engines in India. Since 2022, India has refused to condemn the Russian invasion and remains one of Moscow’s closest allies.