On Tuesday, 12th September 2023, Ukranian politician and advisor to President Zelenskyy, Mykhailo Podolyak said that Indians and Chinese have weak intellectual potential. He said that the people from India and China do not realize the consequences of their actions.
In a new low of diplomacy, the Ukrainian advisor to the President of the war-hit country made bizarre claims about India and China in an interview that came days after the successful organization of the G20 summit in Delhi. Mykhailo Podolyak said, “What’s wrong with India, China, and so forth? The problem is that they are not analyzing the consequences of their steps, these countries have weak intellectual potential, unfortunately.”
Mykhailo Podolyak further said, “Yes, they invest in science. Yes, India has launched a lunar rover presently and is now trekking on the surface of the Moon, but that does not indicate that this country fully comprehends what the modern world is about.”
Ukranian politician and advisor to President Zelenskyy, Mykhailo Podolyak, on the intellectual capacity of the Indian and Chinese people. pic.twitter.com/bcf0IczeRy
— Daniel Dumbrill (@DanielDumbrill) September 12, 2023
He made these statements in response to the position of India and China on the Russia-Ukraine war. India has abstained from voting on several UN resolutions condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and continues its partnership with Russia, while extending humanitarian aid to Ukraine and calling for peace talks. China has refused to join the West in imposing sanctions on Russia and cut ties, like the West. The video clipping of the interview was making rounds on the internet.
India has made it abundantly clear that it will prioritise the needs of its own citizens and will not stop importing crude oil from Russia. India has also kept all communications and strategic partnership with Russia open. China has refused to toe Western sanctions and has improved trade ties with Russia. Both the nations, together the home to over 3 billion people, have maintained that they will not participate in the West’s war against Russia.
Ironically, Ukraine, a smaller nation that has been engaged in a long war with Russia and has avoided peace talks, getting thousands of its citizens killed and the landscape ravaged, is giving lessons on geopolitics to India and China, who have avoided getting involved in a conflict that doesn’t concern them and are focused on economic growth for their people.
This isn’t the first occurrence of Ukrainian officials making derogatory comments about Indians. In a previous incident, the Indian community was deeply offended when Ukraine’s Defence Ministry posted a controversial image of the Hindu goddess Kali. On 2nd May 2023, Ukraine’s First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs offered her apologies for the Hinduphobic cartoon shared by the official Defense of Ukraine Twitter account. This Twitter post was opposed by many Hindus on Twitter.
In the last month, Indian students encountered difficulties in Ukrainian universities, where they were subjected to bullying and pressure from local residents, compelling some to consider leaving the country. Now, these offensive racist remarks from this Ukrainian politician Mykhailo Podolyak have recurred, further exacerbating tensions.
Recently in an interview with the Economist, even Ukrainian President Zelenskyy himself was seen threatening Western countries to supply more weapons, insinuating they if they do not supply weapons to prolong their war with Russia, the Ukrainian refugees living in those countries might turn violent.
