45 Indian Nationals Discharged From Russian Army Amid War With Ukraine

File Photo of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. (ANI)

New Delhi: The Indian government has been working to secure the release of Indian nationals recruited into the Russian army, said the Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday, adding that 35 Indian nationals have been discharged since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Russia in July. This brings the total number of Indians discharged to 45, including 10 who were discharged before the PM's visit.

Addressing the briefing on Thursday, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, "In July, when our Prime Minister travelled to Russia, he also took up the matter with President Putin. And since the Prime Minister's visit, 35 Indian nationals have been discharged. Prior to July, his visit, 10 Indian nationals had been discharged. So 45 Indian nationals have been discharged so far."

"Several of them have come back. Six of them came back two days ago and several others would be shortly coming back. There are 50-odd Indian nationals who are still with the Russian army for whom we are trying our best to get them discharged as early as possible," he added.

Jaiswal also spoke on Quad Summit and stated, "On Quad, I am given to understand that there will be an announcement in this regard later this evening. So please do watch out for what is being put out. You will get the answer. An official announcement is expected soon." Meanwhile, National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Dova is on a Russia visit. Doval's visit to Moscow comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Russia and Ukraine in the past two months.

Doval also attended the BRICS National Security Advisers meeting in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on Wednesday. Following this, he held a meeting with Russia's Secretary of Security Council Sergey Shoigu on the sidelines of the BRICS NSAs meeting on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, Doval met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and exchanged a handshake. The Russian Embassy in India shared pictures on X and said, "On September 12, Russia's President Vladimir Putin had a meeting with Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of India, at the Konstantinovsky Palace in St Petersburg."

Russia's President proposed to hold a bilateral meeting with PM Narendra Modi on October 22, on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan to summarise the outcomes of joint work on the implementation of the agreements reached during his visit to Moscow and to outline prospects for the near future, the statement added.

Ajit Doval, in turn, conveyed the words of gratitude from PM Modi and also informed about PM Modi's readiness to share information on his recent visit to Ukraine. During PM Modi's visit to Russia in July, PM Modi held a meeting with President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin and discussed ways to diversify cooperation between the two nations in various sectors like trade, commerce, security, agriculture, technology, commerce, and innovation.
It was PM Modi's first visit to Russia and Ukraine since the war started between Moscow and Kyiv in 2022. Notably, India has always advocated "peace and diplomacy" for resolving conflict between Russia and Ukraine.