– Published in News Analytics October 2025 Edition
The Ukraine conflict continues to reshape global geopolitics, with India’s role emerging as both a balancing force and a trusted partner. In this exclusive interview with Ms Sandhya Srivastava, Editor-in-Chief, The News Analytics Herald, the Honourable Ambassador of Ukraine to India, H.E. Dr Oleksandr Polishchuk, speaks about Prime Minister Modi’s historic visit, the likely visit of the President of Ukraine to India in the near future, prospects for deepening trade and defence cooperation, and Ukraine’s assessment of ongoing peace initiatives. Excerpts from the conversation.
TNH. Your Excellency, warm greetings from The News Analytics Herald. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in January 1992, India and Ukraine have maintained sustained momentum in bilateral relations through multiple challenging global environments. In this context, how do you view Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s historic visit to Ukraine in August 2024, and what long-term impact do you foresee on bilateral ties?
Namaskar!
The visit of the Honourable Shri Narendra Modi Ji to Ukraine last year truly opened a new chapter in our multi-faceted bilateral relations. It is worth recalling that the visit occurred on 23 August — the eve of Ukraine’s Independence Day, a day on which we pay tribute to our National Flag. Thus, we regard the first-ever visit of Indian Prime Minister to Ukraine at this particular time is a bright demonstration of India’s political support for Ukraine in its just struggle against the imperial ambitions of a neighbouring state. This historical visit became a logical continuation of the regular interaction between the leaders of Ukraine and India. We look forward to further high-level exchanges, including the visit of the President of Ukraine to India in the nearest future.
Equally significant is the decision, reflected in the Joint Statement of our leaders, to elevate bilateral relations from a Comprehensive Partnership to a Strategic Partnership. This provides a clear roadmap for our future cooperation within the Intergovernmental Commission framework and through our diplomatic missions.
The progress made in implementing this decision has been both encouraging and inspiring. To date, all scheduled meetings of the joint working groups have been successfully held during the preparatory stage for the IGC session, identifying priority areas and setting the concrete objectives for cooperation over the next two years. At the upcoming IGC session in New Delhi, we intend to jointly adopt the relevant Roadmap to ensure the achievement of full scope of a Strategic Partnership by 2032, when we will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relationship.
TNH. Bilateral trade rebounded by over 70% in 2024–25. What steps can be taken to sustain and further accelerate this growth, especially in priority sectors like agriculture and pharmaceuticals?
Before the full-scale Russia invasion, bilateral trade between our countries had reached nearly 3.1 billion USD in 2021. However, the war caused a sharp decline: supply chains were disrupted, logistics routes were blocked, and several sectors, particularly agriculture, were severely affected. However, in 2024–25 we witnessed a rebound our trade of more than 70 percent. This is clear demonstration that despite the war, we have strong demand and genuine complementarities between our economies. Today, we observe a steady recovery and a strong commitment from both governments and business communities for further deepening of our cooperation.
To sustain and accelerate this growth, we should advance in several key domains. The agriculture sector remains a natural priority: Ukraine has long been a reliable supplier of grain, oils, and agri-technologies, and with proper demining efforts and investment in logistics, these flows can be both expanded and diversified. The pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors offer vast opportunities: Ukrainian companies can benefit from India’s scale and cost efficiency, while Indian partners can access Ukrainian expertise and markets through joint manufacturing and research initiatives.
Equally important is the task of improving logistics chain to insure secure corridors for the trade. Finally, it is essential to work on harmonising standards and regulatory frameworks. This will allow the agricultural and pharmaceutical products to move faster, with fewer obstacles, thereby benefiting producers, consumers, and the overall economic partnership between our countries.
In this context, it would be timely to initiate discussions on a possible Free Trade Agreement between India and Ukraine. Such an arrangement could provide a solid institutional framework for expanding trade, generate new incentives for businesses, and send a clear long-term message of commitment from both governments.
TNH. Defence cooperation has been a strong pillar in bilateral relations between India and Ukraine. What new opportunities do you see in joint manufacturing and emerging defence technologies?
Defence cooperation, as highlighted in the Joint Statement, is an important element in strengthening relations between the defence institutions of our two countries.
Ukraine remains as important partner for India to maintain the operational readiness of its armed forces. However, some experts exaggerate India’s dependence on imported components and spare parts for Soviet-era equipment. India already produces about 75% of the military equipment for its armed forces and, in my opinion, will become completely self-sufficient in this sector within the next 10–15 years. Moreover, India now is in transition from being one of the world’s largest importers of defence equipment to one of its leading exporters.
Ukraine and India share a strong mutual interest in closer scientific and industrial cooperation in the defence sector, technology transfer etc. The superiority of modern Ukrainian and Western defence technologies on the battlefield is evident — particularly in aviation, UAVs, electronic warfare, C3 systems etc.
In turn, the depth of military-technical cooperation depends solely on India. This is precisely the sphere where maintaining “strategic autonomy” or “strategic balance” is impossible. Due to the complexity of integrating different combat systems into a joint comprehensive combat ecosystem, which India has recently experienced firsthand and also can have a lesson learned on the example of the Turkish S-400. Defence-technical cooperation also requires a very high level of trust between partners — I would say “strategic trust”. It is not only about protecting sensitive technologies, but also about avoiding any steps that could raise doubts or concerns. For example, the grave concern of Ukraine and its European partners over participation in Russian exercises directed against the security of Europe and the sovereignty of certain EU member states.
TNH. How do you see the role of the Indian-Ukrainian Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) in driving concrete outcomes and shaping the future of bilateral cooperation?
In addition to my earlier points, I would like to emphasize that Ukraine and India fully recognise the key role of the IGC in shaping and implementing the bilateral cooperation agenda. Considering the strategic importance of its development, we mutually agreed last year to elevate the co-chairmanship of the IGC to the level of the Ministers of Foreign/External Affairs.
The implementation of the adopted Roadmap for achieving the Strategic Partnership Goals by 2032 will allow us to reach measurable results through regular assessment by Joint Working Groups under the co-chairmanship leadership. This is precisely what makes the Roadmap different from the many declarative documents that often remain on paper.
TNH. Thousands of Indian students once studied in Ukraine, especially in medicine. How is Ukraine addressing student safety and ensuring their future educational opportunities?
We take great pride in the thousands of Indian students who have studied in Ukraine, many of whom are now practicing doctors across India. Even in wartime, we have seen inspiring examples of Indian students who chose to continue their studies in Ukraine and supported local communities through volunteering, helping save lives and assist those in need.
Today, despite the ongoing war, Ukraine has managed to provide a safe and stable environment for newly enrolled students. Our medical universities remain a popular choice for Indian students, and we are actively aligning our curricula with the latest NMC regulations and requirements to ensure that graduates are fully recognised in India.
At the same time, we are expanding beyond medical education to promote technical studies and institutional partnerships.
Looking ahead, one particularly promising opportunity is the establishment of Ukrainian university branches in India — an option already open to other international universities under the University Grants Commission.
We are also partnering with the Global Coalition of Ukrainian Studies, an initiative launched by Ukraine’s First Lady, Olena Zelenska, to introduce Ukrainian studies programmes at Indian universities.
TNH. India maintains close relations with both Ukraine and Russia. How do you assess India’s balancing role, especially regarding peace initiatives and what are Ukraine’s possible pathways to peace? Where do you see India’s role in facilitating it?
Like any sovereign nation, India and Ukraine, builds its foreign policy on the foundation of national interests. Based on these core interests and shared values, nations form alliances and partnerships. This approach is very different from Russia’s idea of “multipolarity,” which is essentially about creating blocs of some countries against others. The democracy sees multipolarity as an opportunity to connect diverse nations on the basis of common values, to work in harmony for shared prosperity, peaceful coexistence and genuinely equal relations.
This is the essence of the philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, which underpins the Prime Minister of India’s statement that “this is not an era of war.” India has long enjoyed good relations with both Ukraine and Russia. At first glance, this might suggest that India should keep an equal distance from both sides to remain neutral. But it is difficult to see how to stay “equally distant” from an aggressor and a victim, or how economic gains could outweigh political and moral responsibility. As India’s leaders repeatedly stated during Operation Sindoor, “one cannot equate the victim with the perpetrator.”
Clearly, Russia’s war against Ukraine has challenged India’s traditional policy of “neutrality and non-alignment,” which was shaped in the post-colonial and post-war periods. How relevant and justified this policy remains today — especially in light of India’s ambitions to play a leading regional and global role, including as a permanent member of the UN Security Council — will be revealed over time. After all, neutrality can be viewed and assessed from different perspectives.
I now see a gap between what might be called “active” and “passive” neutrality, especially in matters of respect for international security and international law. For example, neutral countries such as Switzerland, Austria and Ireland are actively shaping the European security agenda, putting forward peace initiatives and moderating international diplomatic efforts to establish peace. Not only in Ukraine.
Sweden and Finland went even further, fundamentally rethinking their traditional neutrality and joining the transatlantic defence alliance — guided first and foremost by their national interests and in the face of real military challenges and threats. Malta and Ireland are also seeking to deepen their engagement with NATO, including through joint exercises and intelligence sharing.
The position of a passive “neutral” observer seems outdated today and belongs to the era when the Non-Aligned Movement was founded. At the same time, we fully respect the goals and principles of the Movement. They remain relevant, especially the struggle against neo-colonialism, all forms of hegemony and expansionism, the promotion of peace and security, and the call to rebuild international economic relations on fair and democratic foundations.
The position of a passive “neutral” observer looks today like a vestige from the time when the Non-Aligned Movement was founded. With full respect for the Movement’s goals and principles, which have not lost their relevance, we emphasise in particular the fight against neo-colonialism, all forms of hegemony and expansionism, the promotion of peace and security, and the restructuring of international economic relations on fair and democratic foundations.
From the very first days of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Prime Minister of India took a principled position. He shared it with President Zelenskyy during his visit to Ukraine last year and reiterated during his meeting with US President Donald Trump in February this year. In his view, the world was mistaken in thinking that India was somehow “neutral” in this situation. In fact, India stands on the side of peace and calls for dialogue, diplomacy and a peaceful resolution of the conflict. We are grateful that Prime Minister Modi has voiced this position directly to the Kremlin leader. At the same time, the world expects that India, building on this position and taking into account its leading role on the global stage, will initiate more active diplomatic efforts aimed at achieving peace in Ukraine. India has every opportunity to do so.
The recent tragic events in Kashmir have shown that India is capable not only of conveying to the international community its firm position of rejecting acts of international terrorism, but also of building international support for its efforts to combat such threats. In a similar way, Ukraine views the war unleashed by Russia as an act of state terrorism that requires a consolidated response — both from members of alliances and from neutral countries. In this regard, it seems logical to combine the efforts of our two countries in countering international terrorism, addressing issues of nuclear and radiological safety, food and energy security, combating ecocide, and other global challenges.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly stated that no one wants peace more than the Ukrainian people, and no one wishes to stop the killings and destruction more than Ukrainians themselves.
Long before Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine sought ways to prevent war and repeatedly put forward various proposals for a peaceful resolution of differences with Moscow — including within the framework of the so-called Minsk negotiation process.
From the very first day of Russia’s full-scale aggression, the leadership of Ukraine repeatedly called on world leaders to put pressure on the Kremlin to immediately stop the hostilities. We agreed to any format of negotiations, bilateral or multilateral, solely for the sake of finding a diplomatic solution to the conflict at its earliest stage. Unfortunately, the Russians perceived all these efforts as a sign of weakness on the part of Ukraine and its partners, never pausing for a moment and constantly escalating the hostilities. Lacking real military superiority, they resort to nuclear blackmail and the use of prohibited chemical weapons. They seek to break our will to resist through the torture and murder of Ukrainian prisoners of war, the daily bombardment of critical civilian infrastructure, the killing and forcible deportation of civilians from the occupied territories, including children.
On the diplomatic track, under the guise of “peace proposals,” the Russians insist unequivocally on Ukraine’s de facto military capitulation, demanding not only the surrender of our territories but also the renunciation of our national identity, culture and religion.
These conditions are unacceptable for Ukraine. We are working tirelessly on the diplomatic front to achieve a ceasefire and to secure a just and lasting peace that reflects Ukraine’s interests and is agreed with us.
This is, in fact, one man’s war. Putin alone bears responsibility for starting it and insists on continuing it. As President Zelenskyy has stressed, Putin decides everything in Russia, and it is Putin who must decide to end this war. That is why any meaningful negotiations must involve him directly.
In my view, the leadership of India, having direct contacts with Putin, could use its influence to persuade him to come to the negotiating table. This would be the first step toward a deeper involvement of India in the peace process. India has the necessary potential and expertise for such a role. In previous years, its representatives participated in all meetings of National Security Advisors and in the first summit dedicated to finding ways to establish peace in Ukraine.
And, undoubtedly, one of the key instruments to end the war could be economic pressure on Russia. The Russian leadership is desperately converting the money it receives from trade into missiles and bombs with which it kills Ukrainians. If the Kremlin is deprived of the ability to continue financing this war — which, in reality, is destroying the Russian economy — then Putin will be forced to choose the path of diplomacy. Based on this, we support any international efforts and initiatives aimed at cutting off Russia’s sources of financing for this war.
TNH. Looking beyond the conflict, how does Ukraine envision its global partnerships evolving, with India as a key partner in reconstruction and stability?
We are not waiting for the war to end to begin recovery: the rebuilding and reconstruction of Ukraine is already underway. The IGC has significant potential to serve as a platform for discussing India’s practical involvement in these projects — both in the bilateral and multilateral formats.
I hope that Indian businesses will realise the existing business opportunities and begin entering the Ukrainian market now, and that the Government of India will assist them by contributing to the peace and strengthening India’s image as a friend and reliable partner of Ukraine.
