NEW DELHI: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the first Indian PM to visit Poland in more than four decades, he said, “For decades, India’s policy was to maintain distance from all countries. The situation has now changed … Today, India’s policy is to maintain close ties with all countries. Today’s India wants to connect with everyone.”
And setting the tone straight for India’s shifted foreign policy, PM Modi arrived in Ukraine and met president Volodymyr Zelenskyy with a handshake and a hug.Just over a month ago, PM Modi’s hug with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow was criticised by many, including the US and Zelenskyy himself who called it a “disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts”.
PM Modi, however, on Friday offered the same treatment to Zelenskyy with a handshake, a hug and a hand on the shoulder as both the leaders visited a memorial for children killed in the Russia-Ukraine.
“Conflict is particularly devastating for young children. My heart goes out to the families of children who lost their lives, and I pray that they find the strength to endure their grief.,” PM Modi wrote as he shared the photos on X.
Assam CM and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma soon put up the images of PM Modi hugging both Putin and Zelenskyy and noted that the “two defining images capture the unique essence of a Bharat First Foreign Policy.”
“A policy that allows a resurgent India to exercise strategic autonomy in an increasingly polarised climate, pursue national interests and reaffirm its pole position in global diplomacy!” he wrote.
And setting the tone straight for India’s shifted foreign policy, PM Modi arrived in Ukraine and met president Volodymyr Zelenskyy with a handshake and a hug.Just over a month ago, PM Modi’s hug with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow was criticised by many, including the US and Zelenskyy himself who called it a “disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts”.
PM Modi, however, on Friday offered the same treatment to Zelenskyy with a handshake, a hug and a hand on the shoulder as both the leaders visited a memorial for children killed in the Russia-Ukraine.
“Conflict is particularly devastating for young children. My heart goes out to the families of children who lost their lives, and I pray that they find the strength to endure their grief.,” PM Modi wrote as he shared the photos on X.
Assam CM and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma soon put up the images of PM Modi hugging both Putin and Zelenskyy and noted that the “two defining images capture the unique essence of a Bharat First Foreign Policy.”
“A policy that allows a resurgent India to exercise strategic autonomy in an increasingly polarised climate, pursue national interests and reaffirm its pole position in global diplomacy!” he wrote.
The images also echo what External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had mentioned as the essential difference in India’s foreign policy in previous and Modi government. “It’s a Bharat-First policy, unlike what it was before,” he said.
PM Modi’s visit comes as the Russia-Ukraine war continues for the third year.
Since the beginning of the war, India has tried to balance its relations between Russia and Ukraine and repeatedly called for “peaceful resolution through dialogue”.
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