Modi likely to raise Indian recruits in Ukraine war issue in Moscow: report

INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi is set to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin during his ongoing visit to Moscow and it is likely that the issue of Indian civilians being recruited by the Russian Army in its war in Ukraine will be the main point of discussion between the two leaders. The Indian PM reached Moscow on Monday (8) for a two-day visit and will go to Austria next.

Ukraine was a major issue the last time Modi and Putin met, which was at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, in September 2022. Five months since the offensive was launched against Kyiv, Modi had told Putin on the occasion that it is not an era of war. While Putin cared little to stop the war, the Indian PM's stance was widely appreciated in the West, which considers the Russian president a major enemy.

India Today reported citing sources that getting Indian civilians fighting in the Ukraine war back will be among the top priorities of the Modi-Putin talks. At least four Indians have lost their lives in the war and about 35-50 are believed to be in the Russian Army. Ten have been allowed to return, the sources were cited as saying.

Read: Modi lands in Russia for first time since Ukraine war started, to meet Putin

According to the Russian military, the country's law permits recruiting foreigners and it has received volunteers from countries such as Sri Lanka, China, and others, the India Today report added. The discharge of any recruit has to happen through the military commission.

Read: Modi in Russia: Indians to seek PM’s support to build Hindu temple, more flights

The Indian side has been raising the matter of the country's nationals getting recruited in the Russian military to fight in Ukraine with concern for some time. Last week, Indian external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar strongly raised the issue with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Astana in Kazakhstan and pressed for their safe return.