![\"Getty](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/3f43\/live\/16473780-3e70-11ef-87b9-b7d466444513.jpg.webp\")
Mr Kwatra said there were about 35-50 Indians in the Russian forces, of whom 10 had already been brought home. The two countries would now work to bring back the remaining men, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indians stuck in Russia said they were duped by agents with the lure of money and a Russian passport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most of these men were from poor families who were promised jobs, sometimes as “helpers” in the Russian army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Families of the men had appealed to the Indian government for help in bringing them back home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
India’s foreign ministry had called this a “matter of deep concern” and said it was “pressing very hard with the Russian authorities” to bring back its citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier this year, the ministry urged “all Indian nationals to exercise due caution and stay away from this conflict”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In March, Indian authorities said they busted a network of agents sending people to fight for Russia under the pretext of giving them jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Modi took up the issue with Mr Putin on Tuesday during his two-day visit to Russia, his first since 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A joint release by India and Russia after their talks said the two sides had set out nine key areas for closer co-operation, including nuclear energy and medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The leaders also said they would aim to boost bilateral trade by more than half to hit $100bn (about \u00a378bn) by 2030.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Russia has promised an early release of all Indian citizens fighting in its army, India\u2019s foreign ministry has said. The announcement came at the end of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s\u00a0visit to Moscow, during which he raised the issue with President Vladimir Putin. Delhi has been seeking the release of Indians, who say\u00a0they were lured […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":7256,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,48],"tags":[87,126,1959],"class_list":{"0":"post-7255","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-stories","8":"category-world","9":"tag-india","10":"tag-russia","11":"tag-war-in-ukraine"},"yoast_head":"\n