PM Modi to talk about Indians involved in Ukraine war with Putin during his Russia visit

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Russia next week where it is likely for him to bring up issues of Indian nationals being ‘misled’ in fighting in the Ukraine war for Russia, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra stated on Friday.

PM Modi will visit Russia on July 8-9 for a conversation with President Vladimir Putin as part of the 22nd annual India-Russia summit that was launched in the year 2000. “The bilateral visit this time is just a scheduling priority that we have undertaken and that’s what it is” , he informed the reporters after a question asked on Modi’s visit.

This visit will be PM Modi’s first visit to Russia in 5 years. The last time was in 2019, where he attended an economic conclave in Vladivostok. Since a few last months, India has been talking about the issue of several Indians who were allured to Russia with the promise of getting jobs or education and later ended up fighting in the Ukraine war. 

In the Month of May, the police arrested four people in a trafficking operation that ran this operation. Four Indian’s have been killed in the war so far. Around 30 to 40 of India’s citizens could be already serving, Kwatra stated. “All efforts have been made for Indian’s return the Indians as soon as possible” he said. According to Vinay, 10 Indians have already been brought back. 

Both the leaders will review multifaceted relations between both the countries and discuss contemporary regional and global issues of common interest.  

Kwatra talked about a sharp increase in India-Russia trade during the year 2023-24 and was close to $65 billion mostly due to strong cooperation but Indian exports were only $4 billion. The trade obviously remains unbalanced and that is a matter of priority in the discussion with Putin and hoping to correct this by increasing Indian exports in sectors like farm, technology, pharmaceuticals and several services. 

India has avoided criticising Russia on its war in Ukraine and advised the neighbours to resolve their conflicts through communicating peacefully and diplomacy, while also increasing purchases of cheap Russian oil to record levels. 

The major focus of this discussion is on trade imbalance, and Indian soldiers.