Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi walk during their meeting at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence near Moscow, Russia on July 8, 2024
| Photo Credit: via Reuters

In what will be relief for the families of men recruited into the Russian military to serve at the warfront with Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has accepted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s request, made at a private dinner on Monday, to discharge those wishing to return to India. According to sources privy to the decision, Mr. Putin has given instructions to this effect upon Mr. Modi’s “direct intervention”.

“We expect the release to take place within weeks from various places where they are serving or deployed,” sources told The Hindu on the condition of anonymity.

Also Read: PM Modi in Russia LIVE updates

It is unclear whether there will be a public announcement about the order and whether it will find mention in the joint statement, that comes after weeks of diplomatic discussions, and the issue being raised by the Indian Embassy in Moscow as well as by External Affairs Minister 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 discharge of dozens of soldiers who claim they were recruited by the Russian military after being lured by agents on false promises has been increasing pressure on the government for several months. After The Hindu first reported on the demand that was raised by Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi as some men from his constituency had reached out, the Ministry of External Affairs accepted that there was a problem amongst a “few” such cases.

However, subsequently it has emerged that there are at least 50 Indian men serving at war front, of which four have been killed.

Also Read: Death of Indians in Russia-Ukraine war: Status and accountability of mercenaries in international law | Explained

In parliament last week, Mr. Owaisi had referred to Indians who were not being prevented by the government to travel to conflict zones in Russia and Israel as “cannon fodder”. The MEA has said that about 9-10 who reached out directly to the Embassy have been returned to India, after the Embassy’s intervention with the Kremlin. The Hindu has learnt 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 thus far, but official sources explained that the recruitment of foreign soldiers is permitted under law and conducted after “thorough mental and physical” checks. Recruits from Nepal, Sri Lanka, China and African countries are all believed to have been trained for a few weeks and deployed similarly to the Indian recruits. The Nepali government has also made similar requests to the Kremlin and taken up the issue in Kathmandu and Moscow.

Special gesture

The decision by the Russian President is seen as a special gesture made for India given traditional ties, as well as his personal rapport with PM Modi, that was on display at a private dinner he threw for Mr. Modi at his Dacha on the outskirts of Moscow on Monday. The two men embraced as they met, and Mr. Putin who congratulated PM Modi on his third term in office, then personally drove Mr. Modi in a golf cart around his estate, and took him on a tour.

India dismisses U.S. concerns

The optics of the visit has raised eyebrows in Washington, where President Joseph Biden is hosting NATO leaders and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a special summit on Tuesday, and the State Department spokesperson Mathew Miller, when asked said that the US has raised its “concerns” about India’s relationship with Russia.

When asked, government sources rejected the US’s 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, PM Modi is expected to stress with President Putin that there is “no solution on the battlefield” to the conflict and that “dialogue and diplomacy” are the only way forward.

(With inputs from Vijaita Singh)

China’s President Xi Jinping. File
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

The situation in Afghanistan, the Ukraine conflict and boosting overall security cooperation among the SCO member countries are expected to figure in the summit.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the 24th summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana this week, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on June 30. He will also pay a state visit to Tajikistan, it said.

From July 2 to 6, President Xi will attend the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO in Astana, the Ministry said.

Officials say the situation in Afghanistan, the Ukraine conflict and boosting overall security cooperation among the SCO member countries are expected to figure in the summit.

The SCO, comprising India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, is an influential economic and security bloc that has emerged as one of the largest transregional international organisations.

S. Jaishankar, Wang Yi likely to meet

India will be represented by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) earlier said.

Officials say there is a likelihood of a meeting on the sidelines of the summit between Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is expected to accompany Mr. Xi.

If it takes place, it will be the first high-level meeting between Indian and Chinese officials after the formation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 3.0 government following the recent general elections in India.

Generally, the Indian prime minister participates in the SCO summit, providing an opportunity for Indian and Chinese leaders on the sidelines of the heads of the state meeting of the eight-member bloc.

But since Mr. Modi has decided to skip it, significance is attached to the likely meeting between Mr. Jaishankar and Mr. Wang in the light of four-year-long frozen relations between the two countries over the standoff in Eastern Ladakh.

Frosty relationship between India and China

Relations between the two countries hit a low except for trade ever since the eastern Ladakh border stand-off erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong Tso (lake) area near Galwan.

Since the May 2020 clashes, the two sides have held 21 rounds of Corps Commander-level talks so far to resolve the stand-off. The 22nd meeting is due to be held. 

According to the Chinese military, the two sides have so far agreed to disengage from four points namely the Galwan Valley, the Pangong Lake, Hot Springs, and Jianan Daban (Gogra) in eastern Ladakh.

India is pressing the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to disengage from the Depsang and Demchok areas, maintaining that there cannot be restoration of normalcy in its relations with China as long as the state of the borders remains abnormal.

For its part, China continues to maintain that the boundary question does not represent the entirety of China-India relations, and it should be placed appropriately in bilateral relations and managed properly.

Kazakhstan is hosting the summit in its capacity as the current chair of the grouping.

India was the chair of the SCO last year. It hosted the SCO summit in the virtual format in July last year.

India has shown a keen interest in deepening its security-related cooperation with the SCO and its Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS), which specifically deals with issues relating to security and defence.

The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Pakistan became its permanent member along with India in 2017.