New Delhi:External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on Friday said that New Delhi is awaiting the release of 69 Indian citizens recruited into the Russian Army and noted that there are in total, 91 cases of Indian nationals who were recruited into the Russian Army.
Jaishankar was responding to queries from AIMIM member Asaduddin Owaisi in the Lok Sabha today, on the 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.
The External Affairs Minister said, "We have, in total, 91 cases so far of Indian nationals who were recruited into the Russian Army. Eight of them, unfortunately, have passed away. Fourteen of them have been discharged or in some manner have come back with our assistance. And there are 69 Indian citizens, who are awaiting release from the Russian Army".
During the Question Hour, he said, "We take this issue very, very seriously. I have myself raised it numerous times with the Russian Foreign Minister and when Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) was in Moscow last month, he raised it personally with President (Vladimir) Putin and he got President Putin's assurance that any Indian national, who is in the service of the Russian Army will be discharged and released. The Russian authorities maintain that these Indian nationals entered into contracts for service with the Russian Army".
"We do not, we are not necessarily subscribing to that. I share the member's view. I think in many cases, there are reasons to indicate that our nationals were misled, that they were being told that they were going for some other job and that they were then deployed with the Russian Army", added Jaishankar.
Responding to the question regarding actions taken against individuals who are misleading the youths, Jaishankar said that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a criminal case against 19 individuals and entities.
"They have examined those people, those 14 people who have returned from Russia. Sufficient evidence has surfaced against 10 human traffickers whose identities we know. During the investigation, two of the accused were arrested on the 24th of April and two more on the 7th of May. All the four accused are presently in judicial custody," he said.
Also in regards to a question related to the cyber trafficking of people, who are being misled, taken to Southeast Asia and made to work on cyber-scams and related issues, Jaishankar reiterated that India has taken it up with all the concerned governments at a political level.
"So far, 650 Indian nationals have been repatriated from Cambodia, 415 from Myanmar and 548 from Laos. So, as the member has noted, the government also appreciates the gravity of this issue, this is an issue for which we have to be very vigilant. We have to crack down very hard. So I have also attached with the answer, a list of cases state-wise for the last three years, what is the action taken report, what is the status of legal proceedings in those cases", he concluded.
