India–Ukraine relations

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India–Ukraine relations
Map indicating locations of India and Ukraine

India
Ukraine
Diplomatic mission
Embassy of India, KyivEmbassy of Ukraine, New Delhi
Envoy
Ambassador to Ukraine, Partha SatpathyAmbassador to India, Igor Polikha

The Republic of India recognised Ukraine as a sovereign country in December 1991 & established diplomatic relations in January 1992. The Indian Embassy in Kyiv was opened in May 1992 and Ukraine opened its Mission in New Delhi in February 1993.The Consulate General of India in Odessa functioned from 1962 until its closure in March 1999. Ukraine is India's second largest trade partner after Russia in the former Soviet Union.

Position on 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine[edit]

India was one of three countries on the UN Security Council to abstain from voting on the resolution to condemn the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, which ultimately failed due to a veto from permanent member Russia. In the follow-up General Assembly session, India again abstained.

Indian Community[edit]

A small but vibrant Indian community lives in Ukraine, comprised mostly of business professionals and students. There are about 18,000 Indian students studying in Ukraine, mainly in the field of medicine. Indian business professionals work predominantly in the fields of pharmaceuticals, IT, engineering, medicine, and education. The ‘India Club’, founded by Indian expats in 2001, actively engages the Indian diaspora in Ukraine and organises several events - such as a Diwali festival, cricket tournaments, a Holi festival, Indian dance festival, screenings of Bollywood movies, etc.[1]

On March 4 2022, India asked Ukraine and Russia to enforce a truce in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy to allow hundreds of Indian students besieged there to be evacuated as the situation worsened.[1]

Bilateral treaties and agreements[edit]

More than 17 bilateral agreements have been signed between India and Ukraine, including agreements on Co-operation in Science and Technology, Foreign Office Consultation, Co-operation in Space Research, Avoidance of Double Taxation and Promotion and Protection of Investments. During Aero India 2021, Ukraine signed four agreements worth ₹530 crore (US$70 million) with India which includes sale of new weapons as well as maintenance and upgrades of existing ones in service with the Indian armed forces.[2]

Political relations[edit]

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland on 2 November 2021.

India has had friendly relations with Ukraine even when the latter was a republic part of the Soviet Union. Annual Foreign Office consultations are held at Secretary level. The Deputy Foreign Minister in charge of the Asia region represents the Ukrainian side in these consultations. Ukraine has been positively co-operating with India at the international level also. Ukraine supports the resolution of the issue of Jammu & Kashmir on the basis of Simla agreement. Ukraine also supports reforms of the UN structure.

During the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Indian media started reporting that in 1998 Ukraine had opposed India's nuclear test and mistakenly reported that Ukraine voted in favor of UN Resolution 1172 which condemned India's nuclear test at United Nations Security Council.[3][4][5] However, Ukraine was not a member country of UN Security Council when Resolution 1172 was unanimously passed and therefore it could not participated in the voting process also Resolution 1172 did not contain any sanction.[6][7]

Ukraine was, however, a member of the Conference on Disarmament where Mykola Maimeskul, the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations, had condemned the nuclear testing by India.[8] The Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations, Volodymyr Yelchenko, further condemned India for testing nuclear weapons in a special additional statement.[9]

In a widely shared tweet, Kanchan Gupta stated the reasons for India not coming out in support for Ukraine.

Kanchan Gupta Twitter
@KanchanGupta

You take consistent anti-India position at UN.
You vote for UNSC sanctions against India after 1998 nuclear tests.
You push for UN intervention on Kashmir after abrogation of Article 370.
You sell military equipment to Pakistan to use against India.
Yet you want India’s help.

24 February 2022

Position on Crimea[edit]

India was the first major country to recognize the annexation of Crimea and it has abstained from a resolution on the territorial integrity of Ukraine, justifying its decision by saying that it was the choice of the people of Crimea.[10] India also does not support Western sanctions against Russia.[11] In December 2014, Prime Minister of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, made an unofficial visit to India to sign a memorandum with a business group called the Indian-Crimean Partnership. India's Ministry of External Affairs spokesman said that he was not officially aware of the visit by Mr. Aksyonov. The spokesman also said that Mr. Aksyonov was not a member of Putin's delegation.[12] However, some experts have expressed scepticism regarding the explanation offered by India's Ministry of External Affairs spokesman. Ukraine president criticised India for allowing Sergey Aksyonov to visit India.[11] U.S. State Department spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, also expressed concerns regarding the visit.[13]

In November 2020, India, along with 22 other countries, voted against a Ukraine-sponsored resolution in the United Nations condemning alleged human rights violations by Russia in Crimea.[14]

Trade relations[edit]

The India Ukraine trade relation and economic co-operation has developed on the basis the long-standing friendship between the two countries. In March, 1992 the Treaty on Friendship and Co-operation was signed between India and Ukraine, providing a major boost to India-Ukraine trade relations.

India Ukraine trade relations have been developing at a very fast pace. There has been a threefold increase in the India Ukraine trade during 2003-2005 and it has exceeded US$1 billion. Ukraine imports from India have doubled and stand at US$3,214 million in 2006, while Ukraine exports to India have increased by 3.6 times and stands at US$7,369 million in 2006. The total turnover in India-Ukraine trade during 2005-2006 has exceeded US$3.1 billion (as of January, 2014).[15] The main items being imported by Ukraine from India are drugs, pharmaceutical production, ores and minerals, tobacco products, tea, coffee, spices, silk and jute. The main items imported by India from Ukraine are chemicals, equipment, machines and engines. Bilateral trade between the two countries has grown significantly in the last 25 years and in 2018–19, was almost US$2.8 Billion. India is Ukraine's largest export destination in the Asia-Pacificand the fifth largest overall export destination.[2]

Both the Ukrainian and Indian governments take part in the sessions of the Ukraine Indian Inter-Governmental Commission which hold the Joint Business Council Meeting of Ukraine-India. This has given a major boost to India Ukraine trade relations. Ukraine is not a new member in the Indian industry as its enterprises are actively involved and form the backbone of Indian power sector and heavy industries among others.

There are such joint stock companies as 'Ukrindustry' that has won contracts for conducting coke battery reconstruction at the plants of metallurgy in Rourkela and Bokaro. There are also Azovmash and Novokramatorskyi machine building plants that supply oxygen converter manufacturing equipment. India-Ukraine trade relations has also been successful in increasing co-operation between the two countries in technology and scientific field.

Science and technology relations[edit]

Under the Agreement signed between India and Ukraine in May 1992, the Joint S&T Committee meets annually to discuss implementation of projects, holding of exhibitions and co-operation in scientific research. The Committee last met in Kyiv in October 2007 and approved 11 S&T projects for implementation. Days of Ukrainian Science and Technology were held in New Delhi in December 2004. National Space Agency of Ukraine and ISRO have ongoing co-operation in the space sector. Ukraine has a very strong IT Sector. Many offshore call centres have been successful. Aptech Limited from Mumbai has signed an Agreement in May 2004 with International Institute of Personnel Management (the biggest IT training centre in Ukraine) to organise IT programmes for schools and institutions in Ukraine. Bio-technology is the latest sector where companies such as Biocon, Genome etc. are co-operating with each other. It also supplies turbines for thermal, hydroelectric and nuclear power plants.

In 2005, then President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam expressed interest in strengthening co-operation with Ukraine in the field of space research during a speech given to Indians in Ukraine.[16] He and members of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) later visited the Ukrainian space agency Yuzhnoye, one of the largest rocket manufacturing units in the world.[17]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "India urges ceasefire in Ukrainian city to evacuate students". Reuters. Reuters. Reuters. 4 March 2022. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  2. ^ Peri, Dinakar (2021-02-07). "Ukraine looking at defence purchases from India". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  3. ^ "UNSC resolution condemning Russia: India likely to abstain". Economic Times (India). 26 February 2022.
  4. ^ "Times when Ukraine had voted against India at UNSC". www.newsbharati.com. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  5. ^ "Ukraine Had Condemned India After The 1998 Nuclear Tests, Voted Against India At The UNSC - When India conducted nuclear tests in 1998, Ukraine did not join the UN; Why expect help now?". News Bust (India). 25 February 2022.
  6. ^ "Countries Elected Members Below you can see the list of all countries which have been elected as members of the Security Council at least once since 1946". www.un.org. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  7. ^ "SECURITY COUNCIL CONDEMNS NUCLEAR TESTS BY INDIA AND PAKISTAN". www.un.org. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  8. ^ "DISARMAMENT CONFERENCE MEMBERS CONDEMN INDIAN NUCLEAR TESTS". www.un.org. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  9. ^ "SECURITY COUNCIL CONDEMNS NUCLEAR TESTS BY INDIA AND PAKISTAN". www.un.org. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  10. ^ "India′s balancing act in Crimea crisis – Asia – DW.DE – 01.04.2014". DW.DE.
  11. ^ a b "Ukrainian president slams India over Crimean leader visit". Reuters. 11 December 2014.
  12. ^ "Crimean PM meets Indian business group in New Delhi during Putin visit". The Hindu. 11 December 2014.
  13. ^ "India Questioned Over Crimean Leader's Visit". Voice of America. 12 December 2014.
  14. ^ "India votes against Ukraine-sponsored resolution in the United Nations". Economic Times. 19 November 2020.
  15. ^ Indo-Ukraine relations; 2014 MEA report
  16. ^ "Welcome to the silicon india network". Siliconindia.com. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  17. ^ "India, Ukraine To Sign Pact In Outer Space". Spacedaily.com. Retrieved 2012-04-07.

External links[edit]

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