Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Vladimir Putin in Russia, condemns deaths of children in war and calls for peace

Vladimir Putin that the death of innocent children was painful and terrifying, a day after a lethal strike on Kyiv’s main hospital for children.

The pointed remark was an implicit rebuke to the Russian president, who moments earlier had welcomed him to the Kremlin with a warm statement on the importance of the strategic ties between the two countries.

Ukraine says it has recovered fragments of a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile at the children’s hospital, which was hit on Monday, local time, during a wave of Russian attacks that killed at least 41 Ukrainians across the country.

A United Nations rights mission also said on Tuesday that it was likely Kyiv’s main children’s hospital took a direct hit from a Russian missile.

“Analysis of the video footage and an assessment made at the incident site indicates a high likelihood that the children’s hospital suffered a direct hit rather than receiving damage due to an intercepted weapon system,” said the head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.

Russia said, without providing evidence, that it was a Ukrainian anti-missile system that struck the hospital.

“Whether it is war, conflict or a terrorist attack, any person who believes in humanity, is pained when there is loss of lives,” Mr Modi said.

“But even in that, when innocent children are killed, the heart bleeds and that pain is very terrifying.”

It was not the first time that Modi has appeared to criticise Russia over its actions in Ukraine.

In September 2022, he told Mr Putin that “today’s era is not an era of war”.

Mr Putin said at that time he understood the concerns.

India, however, has not condemned Russia’s invasion and has taken the opportunity to buy record amounts of discounted Russian oil as sanctions have decimated Moscow’s trade with the West.

Special partnership

For Russia, India has become an increasingly important partner, both economically and diplomatically, as Moscow seeks to demonstrate that Western attempts to isolate it have failed.

Mr Putin, speaking before Mr Modi, said their two countries enjoyed a “particularly privileged strategic partnership” and thanked him for his efforts to find a peaceful solution to the war.

“I thank you for the attention you are paying to the most acute problems including trying to find ways to resolve the Ukrainian crisis, above all by peaceful means, of course,” Mr Putin said.

Mr Modi responded, saying, “As a friend, I have always said that peace is necessary for our future generations”.

“Solutions are not possible on the battleground. Amidst guns, bullets and bombs, peace talks cannot be successful. 

“We have to find the path to peace only through talks.”

The timing of the Ukrainian hospital incident was embarrassing for Mr Modi as he began his two-day visit on Monday.

Winding up the trip, the two sides set out nine key areas for closer cooperation, ranging from nuclear energy to medicine, and aimed to boost bilateral trade by more than half to hit $100 billion by 2030.

A photo of Mr Modi hugging Mr Putin angered Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said it was a “huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts to see the leader of the world’s largest democracy hug the world’s most bloody criminal in Moscow on such a day”.

The US State Department said on Monday it had raised concerns with India about its relationship with Russia. 

Separately, US President Joe Biden called the latest attacks on Ukraine “a horrific reminder of Russia’s brutality”.

Russia said it struck military targets and the Kremlin repeated its insistence that Russia does not target civilians.

Indians to be discharged from Russian army

Russia has promised to discharge Indians who were falsely induced to join its army.

New Delhi has been seeking the release of its nationals whose families say they were lured to Russia by the promise of “support jobs” in the army, and were later forced into active combat in Ukraine.

“The prime minister strongly raised the issue of early discharge of Indian nationals who have been misled into the service of the Russian army,” Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra told reporters in Moscow as Mr Modi wrapped up a two-day visit.

The Russian side had promised the early discharge of all such people, he said.

Mr Kwatra said the situation affected about 35–50 Indians, of whom 10 had already been brought home. 

He said the two countries would now work to expedite the remaining cases.

A human trafficking network extending from New Delhi in the north to the southern state of Tamil Nadu used social media platforms and local agents to lure people to Russia by offering them lucrative jobs or admission to what India’s Central Bureau of Investigation called “dubious private universities”.

Once they reached Russia, however, the victims’ passports were taken and they were trained in combat roles before being deployed at the front.

Indian police have arrested at least four people involved in the racket.

SOURCE: ABCNEWS