Visiting Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova on Monday met senior officials of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and briefed them on the ongoing conflict in her country, saying India should be pragmatic while diversifying its political interactions and energy resources.

”Pleasure to receive Ukrainian Deputy FM @Emine Dzheppar. Perspectives shared. Discussed bilateral engagements and cooperation going forward. Wishing her a good trip. Her first as DFM, but a country she is familiar with,” said Sanjay Verma, Secretary (West) in the MEA tweeted after his meeting with the minister from the war-torn nation.

Addressing the media later, Dzhaparova said; “India should be pragmatic in diversifying its energy resources, military contracts and political interactions. Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi’s policy of democracy, dialogue and diversity and ‘no era of war’ and strategic application is really important.”

She was obviously alluding to the fact that India has repeatedly abstained from voting against Russia at all international forums, including the UN, for its military action in Ukraine. It is the first official visit by a Ukraine minister to India since Russia launched the military offensive in February last year. She is also scheduled to meet Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi and Deputy National Security Adviser Vikram Misri, it is learnt.

Emphasising that extraordinary times needed extraordinary decisions, Dzhaparova said; “We hope that India and Ukraine, even though geographically at a distance from each other, will become closer physically and politically and in many other ways.”

Talking about Ukraine’s 1500 years of history, the minister said that her country had never attacked anyone like India. Ukraine, she said, was a victim of unprovoked and neocolonial war.

“We also feel that we have this arbitrariness by promoting the values of justice of Peace, as your Prime Minister in Samarkand said, that it’s not an era of war. I mean, we do support this purely and fully, but unfortunately, we have aggressive countries who question the existence of other countries and then the question of India’s involvement as a leader in the Global South, as a G-20 presidency. We hope India would be involved and engaged in global issues and challenges: economic challenges, energy challenges, and nuclear challenges to a greater extent,” she said.

Taking to her official Twitter handle, Dzhaparavo stated, “Happy to visit -the land that gave birth to many sages, saints & gurus. Today, India wants to be the Vishwaguru, the global teacher and arbiter. In our case, we’ve got a very clear picture: aggressor against an innocent victim. Supporting is the only right choice for true Vishwaguru.”