Earlier this in month, Abhay Singh, an Indian-origin Deputy of the Kursk City Assembly, handed over the first consignment of medicines to the local commander of the Russian forces in Kursk, near Ukraine-Russia border.

“The Russian-Indian friendship society Disha organized the next batch of humanitarian aid, which comprised pharmaceuticals produced by the Indian pharmaceutical company Panbio Pharm,” the diplomatic mission said, as per TASS. “The aid was transferred to one of the medical stations of the Russian Armed Forces in Kursk.”

Founded by Rameshwar Singh, a leading Indian-origin journalist and businessman in Moscow, the society procured the medicines from Panbio Pharma in Moscow.

“This is just the beginning. We will send many more consignments of medicines and other essentials to Russian soldiers and their families as they continue to fight in Ukraine,” said Singh, speaking over phone from Moscow, as The Hindu online news quoted.

In the coming weeks, Disha’s team is planning to undertake trips to Donetsk and Luhansk, with the Russian military likely to give permission for sending supplies to the local population living in the middle of the war zone.

Disha launched in 2010 is supported by Indian citizens, businessmen and students, and draws from Singh’s large network of connections.

Singh studied at the Centre of Russian Studies in Jawaharlal Nehru University in 1980 and left for Moscow in 1982. He then stayed on in Russia, working as a journalist and a business consultant.

India-Russia Relation

India-Russia ties enjoy enhanced levels of cooperation in almost all areas of the bilateral relationships including political, security, defense, trade and economy, science and technology, and culture.

Both India and Russia share common values that unites people of the two countries, especially the members of their permanent bureaucracies in ways that outside observers rarely ever realize, according to ANI report.

In the context of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, while the West has been critical of India’s balanced position in accordance with its policy of multilateralism, Russia has displayed understanding vis-a-vis India’s stand on the ongoing crisis.

Russia’s Ambassador to India Denis Alipov recently expressed that India was taking a “fairly balanced position” regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict.