The Indian Ministry of External Affairs has urged the Kremlin to immediately release the Indian nationals employed in the Russian Army. The Ministry has also advised the Indians living in Russia to stay away from the Russia-Ukraine War.

Randhir Jaiswal, the spokesperson of the External Affairs Ministry, recently issued a statement, claiming that some Indian citizens joined the Russian Army a year ago. According to Jaiswal, the Narendra Modi Government in New Delhi asked the Indian Embassy in Moscow to discuss the issue with the Russian Government immediately after receiving this piece of information. The Embassy, too, appealed to the Vladimir Putin Administration to release those Indians currently serving for the Russian Army. The Embassy, too, asked the Indians to remain alert while staying in Russia.

India recently came to know that about a hundred Indians joined the Russian Army in 2023. The concerned authorities in Moscow reportedly lured those Indians by offering jobs! Furthermore, at least three Indian nationals arrived in Ukraine to take part in the ongoing war. Later, Parliamentarian Asaduddin Owaisi expressed serious concern about this to Indian Minister of External Affairs Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. The minister assured Owaisi that the Government of India would discuss the issue with Moscow.

Earlier, family members of one such Indians serving in the Russian Army requested Owaisi, as well as Prime Minister Modi, to intervene in the matter. Then, the parliamentarian raised this sensitive issue with the Ministry of External Affairs and top officials of the Modi Government. Owaisi also requested the Government of India to take appropriate steps for the safe return of those Indians from Russia.

In his letter to Dr Jaishankar, Owaisi mentioned that one of the Indians who joined the Russian Army did not make any contact with his family for more than a month. According to the parliamentarian, at least two of those Indians who have joined the Russian Army are from the southern Indian Province of Telangana, while three are from Karnataka, one from Gujarat, two from Jammu and Kashmir and one from Uttar Pradesh.

In January 2024, the global media reported that Russia started recruiting foreign nationals, including 200 Nepalis, in its Army to fight the Ukraine War. So far, the war has claimed the lives of at least 10 Russian Army soldiers from Nepal, while hundreds have gone missing. Media reports prompted the Himalayan nation to suspend work permits for its citizens in Russia and Ukraine for the time being. It seems that India, too, shall follow Nepal’s suit.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das