Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi walk during their meeting at the Novo-Ogaryovo State Residence near Moscow, Russia on July 8, 2024 | Photo credits: via Reuters
In what will come as a relief to the families of men recruited into the Russian military to serve on the war front with Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has accepted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s request, made at a private dinner on Monday, for those who wish to dismiss it. to return to India. According to sources aware of the decision, Mr Putin issued instructions to this effect following Mr Modi’s “direct intervention”.
“We expect the release to take place within a few weeks from various places where they are serving or deployed,” sources said. The Hindu on condition of anonymity.
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It is unclear whether there will be a public announcement about the order and whether it will be mentioned in the joint statement, which follows weeks of diplomatic discussions, and the issue raised by both the Indian embassy in Moscow and the foreign minister has been raised. S. Jaishankar to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a meeting on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Astana last week.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to hold formal talks with President Putin and visit an exhibition on nuclear cooperation later on Tuesday.
Increasing pressure
The demand for the dismissal of dozens of soldiers who claim they were recruited by the Russian army after being lured by agents with false promises has been increasing pressure on the government for several months. After The Hindu First reporting on the demand made by Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, when contacted by some men from his constituency, the Ministry of External Affairs accepted that there was a problem in a “few” such cases.
However, it later emerged that at least fifty Indian men were serving on the war front, four of whom were killed.
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Last week, Mr Owaisi in Parliament had called Indians who were not prevented by the government from traveling to conflict zones in Russia and Israel ‘cannon fodder’. The MEA has said that around 9 to 10 persons who had contacted the embassy directly have been sent back to India following the embassy’s intervention with the Kremlin. The Hindu has learned that several others had already received their discharge papers but were awaiting a formal release from the war front by their commanding officers.
The Russian government has not commented on the issue so far, but official sources explained that the recruitment of foreign soldiers is allowed by law and is carried out after “thorough mental and physical” checks. It is believed that recruits from Nepal, Sri Lanka, China and African countries were all trained for a few weeks and deployed in the same way as the Indian recruits. The Nepalese government has also made similar requests to the Kremlin and raised the issue in Kathmandu and Moscow.
Special gesture
The Russian president’s decision is seen as a special gesture for India, given its traditional ties and his personal bond with Prime Minister Modi, which was on display at a private dinner he hosted for Mr Modi at his dacha on the outskirts of India. Moscow Monday. The two men hugged when they met, and Mr Putin, who congratulated Prime Minister Modi on his third term in office, then personally drove Mr Modi around his estate in a golf cart and took him on a tour.
India dismisses US concerns
The optics of the visit have raised eyebrows in Washington, where President Joseph Biden is hosting NATO leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a special summit on Tuesday, and State Department spokesman Mathew Miller said at the time he was asked that the US “raised his question.” “concerns” about India’s relationship with Russia.
When asked, government sources dismissed US concerns on the issue.
“India has always called for respecting the UN Charter, including territorial integrity and sovereignty,” the official sources said. As The has reported, Prime Minister Modi is expected to join President Putin in emphasizing that there is “no battlefield solution” to the conflict and that “dialogue and diplomacy” are the only way forward.
(With inputs from Vijaita Singh)
