India’s foreign ministry said Russia has promised to soon release all Indian citizens fighting in its army.
The announcement came at the end of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech. visit Moscowin which he raised the issue with President Vladimir Putin.
Delhi has sought the release of the Indians saying they were lured to russia with the promise of non-combat jobs in the army, but were then forced to join the fighting in Ukraine.
At least four Indians were killed in the fighting.
On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Vinay Kwatra told a press conference that Mr Modi had “raised the issue of early demobilisation” of Indians “who were duped into serving in the Russian army”.
“The Russian side has promised to demobilize all Indian citizens from the Russian army early,” he added.
Mr Kwatra said there were about 35-50 Indians in the Russian force, of whom 10 had been brought back. He added that the two countries would now work to bring back the remaining men.
Indians stranded in Russia say they were duped by agents out of money and Russian passports.
Most of these men came from poor families and were promised jobs, sometimes as “helpers” in the Russian army.
The families of these men have appealed to the Indian government to help bring them home.
India’s foreign ministry called the incident a “matter of deep concern” and said it was “pressing very strongly on the Russian authorities” to bring its citizens back.
Earlier this year, the ministry urged “all Indian citizens to exercise extreme caution and stay away from this conflict”.
In March, Indian authorities said they had broken up a spy network that sent people to fight for Russia under the pretext of creating jobs.
Mr Modi raised the issue with Mr Putin on Tuesday during a two-day visit to Russia, his first since 2019.
A joint statement by India and Russia after the talks said the two sides outlined nine key areas for closer cooperation, including nuclear energy and medicine.
The leaders also said they would aim to increase bilateral trade by more than half to $100 billion by 2030.
