PM Modi's Ukraine visit a good gesture, says Shashi Tharoor

Thiruvananthapuram: Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming visit to Ukraine is a good gesture and will be appreciated.

Modi will visit the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on August 23 to hold talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Talking to the media here, Tharoor, a senior Lok Sabha member, said it is good that India shows a certain amount of concern for both countries in conflict, i.e. Russia and Ukraine.

"I think that many felt that India has been playing an even-handed role in most of the conflicts in the world today and that it could be good to show a certain amount of concern for both sides as visibly as he (Modi) did in Moscow, and going and greeting President Zelenski amidst all the rubble of that country will be a very fine gesture," Tharoor, a former Minister of State for External Affairs, said.

He, however, added India playing any role in bringing peace would only come at the request of the warring countries.

Tharoor said the PM going to Ukraine itself was a good gesture and hoped that if something good happens in the longer course, it would be much better.

"But that should not be the only yardstick," the Congress Working Committee (CWC) member added.

Tharoor said he was very critical of India's stand when the war started, as it refused to condemn the violation of a sovereign border and the abandonment of the UN charter. He added that he had to change his stand when India took a helping stand with Ukraine as well.

"I was quite critical on the basis of the principles India has always stood for. But subsequently, India has been able to send humanitarian aid to Ukraine. We are maintaining good relations with both sides of the conflict, so that is very much a position of friendship to both countries," Tharoor added.