India awaits return of 69 Indians recruited in the Russian Army, says EAM Jaishankar
New Delhi: External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Friday said the government is awaiting the release of 69 Indians recruited into the Russian Army and that in many cases there are indications that the Indian nationals were misled into joining that country’s Army.
On action taken with respect to misleading of people and getting them recruited into the Russian Army, the minister told the Lok Sabha that the CBI has registered a criminal case against 19 individuals and entities while evidence has surfaced against 10 human traffickers whose identities the government knows.
Two of the accused were arrested on April 24 and two more on May 7. “We should not jump the gun and say Russians are not serious on this matter. I think it is important to hold the Russian government to their word and most important for us, we are not here to score points or enter into debates. We are here to get back those 69 people because Indian citizens should not be serving in the Army of foreign countries,” he said during the Question Hour. He was responding to queries from AIMIM member Asaduddin Owaisi on action being taken against individuals who are misleading youth to join the Russian Army and whether India will stop buying discounted oil from Russia if it does not act on releasing Indians recruited into that country’s Army.
So far, the minister said there are a total of 91 cases of Indian nationals being recruited into the Russian Army. Out of them, eight have passed away, 14 were discharged or in some manner have come back with the government’s assistance.
Out of the eight who died, the mortal remains of four have been sent back to India and in two cases, one from Haryana and Punjab, DNA samples have been sent to the Russian side. In one case from Gujarat, the family wants the body to be cremated in Russia and in another case from UP, the mortal remains are being brought back. According to Jaishankar, the problem is that the Russian authorities maintain that these Indian nationals entered into contracts for services with the Russian Army.
