The day Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Russia around a month and a half back, Russia attacked a children’s hospital in Ukraine. Several children lost their lives. From the United States to Europe, everyone expressed disappointment over Modi’s visit to Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy even went to the extent of saying that seeing the leader of the world’s largest democracy “embracing the world’s most bloodthirsty criminal in Moscow” is a huge setback to peace efforts.
A month and a half later, on Friday, Modi embraced Zelenskyy in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and paid tribute to the children who had died in the war. Modi’s visit to Ukraine comes at a time when Ukraine has launched a major attack on Russia’s Kursk region and taken its control. In this context, the question being asked across the world is why did Modi visit Ukraine amid such a fierce war? Has Modi become actively involved in bringing the two countries on the path of peace? While finding a definitive answer to this question seems difficult at the moment, it cannot be ruled out either. Just before reaching Ukraine, he categorically stated in Poland that no conflict could be resolved on the battlefield. He had said the same thing to Putin earlier.
In February 2022, Russia attacked Ukraine. India maintained a clear stance on the matter. Russia is an old and trusted friend, so India never condemned Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Nor did it support the resolutions brought against Russia at the United Nations. However, India did not hold back in providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Over 135 tonnes of supplies, including medicines, blankets, tents, medical equipment and even generators, have been sent to Ukraine. Moreover, India has repeatedly emphasised on every platform that war is not the solution to the problem. Meanwhile, China and Brazil put forth their peace proposals. Earlier, in March 2022, Turkey had facilitated meetings between Russia and Ukraine, but no solution was arrived at. Experts believe that no one trusts China and Brazil does not hold that kind of influence.
Analysts also believe that while Russia would fully trust India, there is no reason why Ukraine would not trust India as well. It is believed that serious talks are going on between India and Ukraine to establish peace. Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba visited India in March this year. He had said that after the war ends, Ukraine could become the world’s largest construction site and Indian companies could also be invited. He had also reminded that just before the war, 19,000 Indian students were studying medicine in Ukraine. All of this indicates that Ukraine too desires peace and acknowledges India’s role in establishing the same.
Even though Putin said that there was no scope for any peace agreement after Ukraine’s victory in Kursk, Russia knows that the war is deeply affecting it. It will not be easy for it to sustain this for a long time. Already there is internal pressure on Putin to end the war. In such a scenario, India’s role in bringing about a peace agreement becomes even more significant. India has always been a proponent of peace, following the path of Lord Buddha, Lord Mahavir and Mahatma Gandhi. Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a broad vision, and he will play a crucial role in promoting peace too, but do the nations aspiring to be global overlords genuinely desire peace? If they start promoting peace, where will they sell their weapons?
A horrifying report!
The report presented by the retired judge of Kerala High Court Justice K Hema on sexual exploitation in the Malayalam film industry is extremely horrifying. The committee stated that women have to face sexual exploitation in exchange for work in films. The casting couch is deeply entrenched. The mafia involved in the exploitation of women’s dignity is extremely powerful -- both financially and politically! However, this is a reality that people are already aware of. The Hema committee has merely validated the truth.
Submitted to the government about five years back, the report has come to light only now. My question is, why was there such a delay in releasing the report? Was there an attempt to protect someone? Or were the officials in the government trying to suppress this report? This suspicion arises because the committee had submitted a 290-page report but more than 40 pages were removed by the government. It is alleged that these missing pages contained names of men who had sexually exploited and harassed women. How shameful that the government itself is hiding the names of the criminals! I would also like to say that this is just one report; what about the Tamil, Telugu, Bhojpuri and even the Hindi film industries? These industries too need to be brought under scanner to find out the truth.
Theauthoristhechairman, EditorialBoardofLokmatMediaandformerof RajyaSabha.