By: Ammar Nainar
Narendra Modi became the first Indian prime minister to visit Ukraine this week, amid the backdrop of an ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia. But New Delhi and Kyiv have had a longer and wider association than many realize, dating back to the Soviet Union. In 1962, India established a consulate in Odessa, and Ukraine accounted for 30 percent of transactions between the Soviet Union and India, including in critical sectors such as metallurgy and heavy industry. Ukrainian professionals supported major Indian hydroelectric, coal, and oil and gas infrastructure and contributed to the assembly of Indian satellites in the 1970s.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Indian prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao met Ukrainian president Leonid Kravchuk in Switzerland in February 1992. Kravchuk visited India the next month and concluded an agreement that formed the basis of their relationship. India opened an embassy in Kyiv in May 1992 and Ukraine opened one of its first embassies in Asia in New Delhi the following year, which also saw a state visit by Indian president Shankar Dayal Sharma. Foreign office consultations began the next year.
This early engagement was of material importance to both countries. India required spare parts for its navy and air force, and Ukraine received essential medicines and clothes in exchange. At the same time, there were differences in the 1990s over Ukraine’s sale of tanks to Pakistan and voting against India at the United Nations over India’s nuclear tests. The early 2000s saw a restoration of high-level engagement, including by Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma, Indian defense minister George Fernandes, and Indian president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and agreements on such issues as extradition, mutual legal assistance, merchant shipping, space, non-tariff trade barriers, and diplomatic training. A December 2012 visit by the then Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych led to agreements on science and technology, nuclear safety, and defense cooperation. The two countries established working groups on space, defense, and trade, and reached agreement on food industry and agriculture, double taxation, and parliamentary training.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, pressing factors such as the evacuation of Indian students, food security, and India’s military preparedness necessitated another phase of high-level political engagement. This included multiple phone conversations between the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a visit by Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba of Ukraine to India in March 2024.
Bilateral relations now encompass defense, trade, and scientific collaboration. Ukraine has provided India with maintenance of Antonov An-32 transport aircraft, naval turbines, and materials for India’s state-owned metal and alloy producing company, MIDHANI. India and Ukraine also have a Joint Working Group on Defense Cooperation which first met in 2018. In terms of trade, India is Ukraine’s largest export destination in Asia and the fifth-largest overall export destination. India imports fertilizers, steel, and sunflower oil from Ukraine and mainly exports pharmaceuticals, tea, coffee, and spices. Indian companies have also been involved in Ukraine’s steel production and in the building of transmission lines. Scientific cooperation between the two countries extends to biotechnology, nanotechnology, and astrophysics, as well as nuclear safety cooperation. India had previously provided $1 million in humanitarian assistance to the Chernobyl Shelter Fund.
Modi’s visit this week was an opportunity to consolidate relations amid the ongoing war, and resulted in agreements on food and agricultural cooperation, a framework agreement for Indian “high impact community development projects,” and a commitment to hold another meeting of the Joint Working Group on Military-Technological Cooperation in New Delhi.
Ammar Nainar is a Junior Fellow and Program Assistant at ORF America.