Kumar Bahukhandi
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday September19 said he spoke to new Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrei Sibiha and congratulated him on his appointment. “Spoke to new Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrei Sibiha today. Congratulated him on his appointment. Looking forward to working with him,” he said in a post on X. Sibiha said he looked forward to taking forward Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s historic visit to Kyiv and talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. “I spoke to S Jaishankar to take forward Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s historic visit to Kyiv and talks with Volodymyr Zelensky. We agreed to take our bilateral relations forward in all promising areas of cooperation. We exchanged views ahead of the UNGA and coordinated next steps in the political dialogue,” he said in a post on X.
The telephonic conversation between the two leaders came ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to the United States where he will meet leaders of the Quad, including US President Joe Biden, on September 21. Asked whether PM Modi will meet Ukrainian President Zelensky during his upcoming US visit and whether either side has requested a meeting, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said, “As far as these bilateral meetings are concerned, I am not aware of any request at this particular time. As I said, we are still working out the exact agenda of the bilateral meetings.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed several documents in several areas including culture, agriculture, food industry, medical product regulation and cultural cooperation during the former’s visit to Kyiv on August 23. Four agreements were signed in the presence of the two leaders. A press release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs said that a framework agreement for cultural cooperation and a programme for cultural cooperation for 2024-2028 have been prepared.
( Source ANI)
