Crimea episode, a lesson for India in handling ‘difficult neighbours’: Ukraine Minister

New Delhi: Emine Dzhaparov, the First Deputy Minister of Ukraine's foreign ministry, has said that the events preceding the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine last year could serve as an example for India of how to handle "difficult neighbours".

Dzhaparov is in India since Monday and she was speaking at the Delhi-based Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), a government institute of national importance that was set up exclusively to study international relations and foreign affairs.

The Ukraine Minister is visiting India for the first time after Russia began its invasion of the East European country on February 24 last year.

Addressing the diplomatic corps, former envoys and reporters at the ICWA, she hinted at the Russia-Ukraine war that has been going on since 24 February 2022 and India's refusal to take sides in the war, stating that India should also take a stance and not be ‘on the wrong side of history’.

Dzhaparov suggested India to recognise the dangers of not stopping those who prefer to push their agenda with "impunity" in what was seen as alluding to India's territorial disputes with the two big neighbours - Pakistan and China.

Tensions continue along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh, where Chinese troops often try to change the status quo despite de-escalation talks.

"India also has a difficult neighbourhood with China and Pakistan. The Crimea episode has a lesson for India as well. Whenever impunity happens and if it is not stopped, it becomes bigger," she said.

"There is one message with which I have come to India. Ukraine really wants India and Ukraine to be closer. Yes, there is a history between us. But we want to start a new relationship with India," Dzhaparov said.

The deputy foreign minister said that as a global leader and current chair of the G20, India can play a greater role in bringing peace and hoped that Indian officials will visit Kyiv soon.

“I think India is a global player. It is really a ‘Vishwaguru’ of the world. We are feeling the pain by actually fighting for the values. This is about justice. Russia is questioning the very existence of my country. In our history of 1,500 years, Ukraine never attacked any country," she said.

Reinstating her statement on the relationship between India, China, and Pakistan during an address at a leading think-tank, Dzhaparova said that Ukraine's relationship with Pakistan is not directed against India's interests and that her country's military ties with Islamabad began around three decades back.

Russia seized eastern Ukraine's Crimea in 2014, eight years before launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In 2016, Ukraine was certain Russia was planning a large invasion as President Vladimir Putin ordered troop build-up on its border and resumed hostile rhetoric that preceded his annexation of Crimea two years earlier.

Dzhaparova, however, made it clear that Ukraine is not in a position to request India about how it maintains its economic relations with other countries, in an apparent reference to New Delhi's energy ties with Moscow.

India has been buying cheap Russian oil despite the West's sanctions on Russia citing that Indians' need for affordable oil comes first before everything else and that India will go wherever it gets a good deal.

She said Ukraine would welcome National Security Adviser Ajit Doval if he visits their country. "We expect the visit of Ajit Doval. Russia has more time to make visits. We are facing a war. Sometimes you may want to do something but can't... My visit is a mark of friendship, for a better relationship with India, but it requires reciprocity," Dzhaparova said.

There is speculation that one of the objectives of her visit is to explore the possibility of having Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speak at the G20.

The Ukrainian minister said India is witnessing visionary changes and it may take some time for it to build new relations with Ukraine and that the ties should be based on a "pragmatic and balanced approach".