Awaiting release of 69 Indians citizens from Russian Army: Jaishankar in Lok Sabha
A total of 91 Indians have been recruited into the Russian Army, and 14 of them were discharged or had come back to India, Jaishankar said
New Delhi: India and Russia have differing views on the status of 91 Indian nationals recruited into the Russian military, though New Delhi takes the matter very seriously and has pressed Moscow to ensure the release and repatriation of the citizens, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said in Parliament on Friday.
The issue of Indians recruited in the Russian Army has emerged as an irritant in bilateral ties, especially after the death of eight Indians while serving with units on the frontlines of the war with Ukraine. Several more Indians, recruited as support staff such as cooks and helpers, have been injured.
A total of 91 Indians have been recruited into the Russian Army, and 14 of them were discharged or had come back to India, Jaishankar said during question hour in Lok Sabha. A total of 69 Indian citizens are currently awaiting release from the Russian Army, he said.
“The problem...is that the Russian authorities maintain that these Indian nationals entered into contracts for service with the Russian Army. We are not necessarily subscribing to that,” Jaishankar said, while replying to a supplementary question from Congress MP Adoor Prakash.
The Indian side has raised the issue of the repatriation of the Indians with the highest levels of the Russian leadership, including President Vladimir Putin, he said.
“We take this issue very seriously. I have myself raised it numerous times with the Russian foreign minister, and when Prime Minister [Narendra Modi] was in Moscow [in July], he raised it personally with President Putin, and he got President Putin’s assurance that any Indian national who is in the service of the Russian Army will be discharged and released,” he said.
Jaishankar further said, “It would be fair to say that after the prime minister himself has taken up the matter with the Russian president and the Russian president has himself given an assurance, we should not jump the gun and say the Russians are not serious on this matter.”
“I think it is important to hold the Russian government to their word. We are here to get back those 69 people because Indian citizens should not be serving in the army of foreign countries,” he added.
Jaishankar said many of the Indians recruited into the Russian military were “misled,” and they “told that they were going for some other job” and “then deployed with the Russian Army.”
The bodies of four of the eight Indians who died while serving with the Russian Army had been brought back to India. In the case of a man from Haryana and another from Punjab, the Russian side has sought DNA samples to confirm their identity.
In the case of a man from Gujarat, the family has provided authorisation for him to be cremated in Russia, while the family of another man from Uttar Pradesh has asked for his body to be brought back to India.
At the same time, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a criminal case against 19 individuals and entities for their alleged role in recruiting Indian nationals for the Russian Army.
“They have examined those 14 people who have returned from Russia. Sufficient evidence has surfaced against 10 human traffickers whose identities we know. During the investigation, two of the accused were arrested on April 24 and two more on May 7. All four accused are presently in judicial custody,” Jaishankar said.
In a written reply to a question from Congress MPs Adoor Prakash and Gaurav Gogoi, Jaishankar said the total number of Indians in the armed forces of other nations is not known. Whenever Indian nationals are lured abroad for jobs by fraudulent agents or entities, the external affairs ministry and Indian missions take “decisive action.”
A total of 3,042 illegal recruiting agents have been notified on the government’s e-Migrate Portal till June 2024, he added.