India continues to raise with Moscow “at various levels” the issue about the release of Indian nationals still with the Russian side, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Tuesday.
It added that External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar had also discussed the conflicts in Europe and the Middle East with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the G20 meeting.
“The External Affairs Minister had several bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the G20 meeting. One of the meetings was with the Foreign Minister of Russia, during which he discussed the ongoing conflicts in Europe and the Middle East,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at the weekly media briefing.
EAM Jaishankar had met Lavrov on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Atlanta on Saturday.
“Discussed the Ukraine conflict, Gulf situation and multilateral issues with FM Sergei Lavrov of Russia,” he had said in a post on X.
EAM Jaishankar said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed the conflict with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Delhi, and before that in Bishkek. He himself had gone to Moscow and discussed it with Lavrov, and had travelled to Kyiv in between.
“As far as the release of Indian nationals who still remain with the Russian side is concerned, as I have informed you earlier, this is an issue that we continue to take up with the Russian side at various levels,” Jaiswal said.
Last month, the MEA said that around 259 Indian citizens were recruited in the Russian army, of whom 139 had been discharged through Indian government efforts and returned home, while discussions with Moscow were underway regarding the return of 69 others.
The ministry also said it could not say how many of them had taken Russian citizenship, as its records covered only Indian citizens.
-IANS
