Expressing “strong concern” about Indian nationals recruited for the war with Ukraine, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar called on Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Astana on July 3 to ensure their return to India soon.
Both Foreign Ministers met on the sidelines of the ongoing Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) council meeting in the Kazakhstan capital. It comes less than a week before Prime Minister Narendra Modi travels to Moscow for the annual bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“[I] raised our strong concern on Indian nationals who are currently in the war zone. [I] pressed for their safe and expeditious return,” Mr. Jaishankar wrote in a social media post after the meeting, adding that they discussed the India-Russia “bilateral partnership” and the “global strategic landscape”.
Mr. Jaishankar’s specific reference to the ongoing issues over Indians being hired as helpers by the Russian military to work on the frontlines indicates growing pressure on the government from their families in India to take up their cause, and suggests that Mr. Modi will also raise the issue with Mr. Putin during his visit on July 8-9. Four Indians have been killed in the fighting so far.
On June 25, the families of six of those stuck on the Russia-Ukraine warfront, all of whom belong to the same village in Haryana, had travelled to Delhi to plead for action from the government. They met an official from the Eurasia division of the External Affairs Ministry to make their case.
As The Hindu has reported since January, dozens of Indian men, some of whom were duped with promises of jobs in Russia, have been petitioning the Indian Embassy in Moscow to help them return to India. While the government has cracked down on a number of recruitment agencies and has made several pleas to the Kremlin asking that those forced into working with the Russian Army be released from their contracts, the process has been slow.
Asked about the number of people brought back to India, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said last week that about 10 people had been rescued so far and that around 20 to 25 had requested the Indian Embassy for help.
“We are in discussions with the Russian authorities and are making every effort to evacuate all the people who are still there as soon as possible,” Mr. Jaiswal said.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted pictures of the Jaishankar-Lavrov meeting on Wednesday, but did not give any details of the issues they covered or any response to Mr. Jaishankar’s statement about the Indians in the war zone.
Mr. Jaishankar, who is attending the SCO Summit in Astana in place of Mr. Modi, began his day with the meeting with Mr. Lavrov, and also met the Foreign Ministers of other SCO countries present, including Central Asian countries and newly inducted Belarus. He met his Kazakh counterpart, Murat Nurtleu, on Tuesday. After meeting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Mr. Jaishankar said he discussed UN reforms and the upcoming Summit of the Future in September in New York.
While the External Affairs Ministry made no comment on whether Mr. Jaishankar would meet his counterparts from China and Pakistan, officials did not rule out a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday.
(With inputs from Vijaita Singh)
