Stop Hiring Indians for War, India Tells Russia

New Delhi: After instances surfaced of Indians being recently recruited yet again by the Russian Army to fight on the frontlines against Ukraine, India on Thursday said it had asked Russia to "end this practice" and release the Indian nationals from service. New Delhi again urged Indian nationals "to stay away from any offers to join the Russian army as this is a course fraught with danger."

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Thursday said, "We have seen reports about Indian nationals having been recruited recently into the Russian army. The government has on several occasions over the past one year underlined the risks and dangers inherent in this course of action and cautioned Indian citizens accordingly. We have also taken up the matter with Russian authorities, both in Delhi and Moscow, asking that this practice be ended and that our nationals be released. We are also in touch with the families of the affected Indian citizens. We once again strongly urge all Indian nationals to stay away from any offers to join the Russian army as this is a course fraught with danger."

Just last month during his visit to Moscow, while speaking on the issue of Indian nationals who were allegedly trapped into fighting for the Russian Army, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar had said, "I took up the issue of Indians serving in the Russian Army. While many have been released, there are still some pending cases and some missing persons. We hope that the Russian side would expeditiously resolve these matters."

India had in January this year announced that 16 Indians serving in the Russian Army have been categorised by Russian authorities as "missing" and their whereabouts are not known. Mr. Jaiswal had then said that of the 126 Indians who had been recruited in the Russian Army, 96 have returned to India so far, while 12 had died in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. He had added that of the 18 Indians still found to be serving in the Russian Army, 16 had been declared as "missing" by the Russian authorities.

It may be recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken up the matter of Indians being duped into working in the Russian Army with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the visit to Moscow in July last year. In September last year, Mr. Jaishankar had told Parliament that Mr. Putin had personally assured PM Modi in July that all such Indians would be discharged and released from the Russian Army, adding that "in many cases," the Indian nationals had been "misled" into joining the Russian Army.

Russia had also said in September last year that "since April this year, (it had) stopped admission of citizens of a number of foreign countries, including India, to military service in the Russian armed forces."