Diplomacy

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Ukraine next month, in an apparent balancing act on the Russia-Ukraine war after he faced flak from the US and European nations over his recent embrace of Russian President Vladimir Putin, reports ‘Times of India’. 

‘Wion’ cited sources in Delhi’s diplomatic circle to report that the visit, which is still in the works, is expected to take place in the third week of August, most likely on August 23.  Earlier this year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held a telephone conversation with PM Modi and invited him to visit his country.

If finalised, this will be the PM’s first visit to the war-torn country since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022. 

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is the cornerstone of India's Act East Policy and its Indo-Pacific vision, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Friday, as he sought to expand political, economic and security cooperation with the bloc.

Jaishankar is in the Laotian capital to participate in the meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

In his remarks at the opening session of the ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers Meeting, Jaishankar said that the current political, economic, and security cooperation with ASEAN is India's top priority. "For India, ASEAN is the cornerstone of its Act India Policy and its Indo-Pacific vision that was thereafter built on it," he said.

"The current political, economic and security cooperation with ASEAN is of the utmost priority so is the people-to-people linkages, that we are constantly seeking to expand," he said.