NEW DELHI: External affairs minister S Jaishankar will travel to Ukraine and Poland from September 3 to 5, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) said on Wednesday. The talks are expected to focus on bilateral ties, regional developments and issues of mutual interest.During the visit, Jaishankar will hold bilateral talks with Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha and Poland’s deputy prime minister and Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski.The ministry’s official release stated that the visit would focus on “enhancing bilateral relations” and provide an opportunity to exchange views on “regional developments and issues of mutual interest.”The Ukraine leg comes days after Ukraine’s first deputy head of the office of the president, Sergiy Kyslytsya, held what he described as a “substantive meeting” with India’s ambassador to Ukraine Anjani Kumar.In a post on X, Kyslytsya said they discussed “prospects for Ukraine-India relations, including India’s role in efforts to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.”He said the meeting also covered Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent message to Russian President Vladimir Putin that “the time has come to move from an endless war to an end of war.”“We look forward to continued dialogue with India and to translating this shared interest in peace into concrete steps,” Kyslytsya said.The visit also follows the death of an Indian national in a Russian aerial attack on Ukraine. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 12 people were killed in the assault, including the Indian citizen.“Overall, 12 people were killed, among them an Indian citizen, and dozens more were injured in the attack. My condolences to everyone who has lost family and loved ones,” Zelenskyy said.
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The Indian Embassy in Kyiv said it was in touch with the family and assisting with the early repatriation of the mortal remains.Jaishankar’s Poland visit comes ahead of an expected visit to India by Polish prime minister Donald Tusk. Poland’s ambassador to India Piotr Antoni Switalski said preparations were under way, describing the proposed visit as “the continuation of our political dialogue.”
