Doing everything to ensure Iraq abductees' safe return, says Govt
The Ministry of External Affairs said that the government has information about "location" of the 40 abducted Indians in Iraq but refused to reveal more details. Read More
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal along with families of some of the Punjabi workers abducted in Iraq on Thursday met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and shared their concerns with her.
The families of the abducted workers impressed upon Swaraj to secure the early release of their kin kidnapped presumably by Islamic militants in oil-rich Mosul town of strife-torn Iraq.
Badal, on his part, called for early action by the central government to secure the release of abducted Punjabi workers and assured the state government was ready to bear all expenses for their safe return home.
Swaraj assured the anxious families of all-out support and said the government would not leave any stone unturned in securing their early release.
"We are doing everything possible to ensure their safe return," Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said after meeting the families of some of the workers.
Swaraj said, "We are doing everything a government should. We will leave no stone unturned in keeping our countrymen safe. I have only requested the families to keep praying and remain calm."
Badal said the state government was worried over the Punjabis kidnapped in Iraq as well as others trapped there and prayed for their well-being and safe return.
He said the central government is doing its best in securing their release with the help of international humanitartian organisations working in Iraq.
"We are very worried. I met Union Minister Sushma Swaraj in this regard. I have asked the Centre to make all-out efforts to secure the safe release of the Indians, including those from Punjab, from strife-torn Iraq. We are ready to bear all the expenses for bringing them back," Badal had told PTI.
He said the state government cannot do anything in this regard except pay for their expenses and pressed the Centre to take immediate diplomatic steps to secure their release.
At least 40 Indian construction workers, working on a construction project in Mosul in northern Iraq, which has been captured by militant group ISIS, were kidnapped while they were being evacuated on Tuesday.
Badal was accompanied by all Shiromani Akali Dal MPs during the meeting with Swaraj.
We know the location of abducted Indians: MEA
The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said that the government has information about "location" of the 40 abducted Indians in Iraq but refused to reveal more details.
In a press conference, MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said, "Our embassy in Baghdad is following up with Iraqi Ministry. There are several meetings that are planned between Indian Ministry and Iraqi Embassy. We do have an understanding of the location but I will not be able to tell the location as of now."
He also added that workers of other nationalities were also held captive in Iraq.
When asked about the safety of the Indians, Akbaruddin said, "There is no safety in captivity. Safety is in places where people are welcome. As regards their location, we have an understanding but given that the matter is underway, we won't be able to share the location or what the Iraqis have shared."
He said a Crisis Management Group here held two meetings chaired by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to discuss further strategy.
Forty Indian construction workers were abducted in the Iraqi city of Mosul, which Sunni militants have overrun in a deadly ongoing insurgency.
He spoke with us, says a victim's father
At least one of the 40 Indians abducted in the Iraqi city of Mosul had talked to his family back home as recently as on Sunday, a BBC report said on Thursday.
Balkar Singh, a resident of Sialka village in Amritsar district of Punjab, told the British news agency that his son, Jitendra Kumar, had talked to him on Sunday and had updated them on the deteriorating situation in Iraq as well as his own well-being.
Kumar, his father said, had been working in Iraq for the past 11 months. Watch videos: Hostage crisis in Iraq, can Modi rescue abducted Indians? | Iraq crisis: Nurses families await return
"Jitendra said he was fine, he was getting food and had no problems. He also told us about the fighting in Iraq. He said many of the companies had abandoned their projects and run away," Singh told BBC.
"Jitendra said they had been moved to another location, but he had no idea where he had been taken," BBC quoted Singh as saying. Also read: Jihadists attack Iraq's largest oil refinery | Iraq seeks US air power against militants
We'll try our best: Sushma Swaraj
The central government on Thursday said it was making all possible efforts to ensure the release of the 40 Indian workers abducted in Iraq.
"I am personally exploring all options. The government is making all kinds of efforts. We are not leaving any stone unturned," External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told reporters in Delhi.
"I am personally supervising this. I will be meeting some of (the kin of the abducted Indians)," she said.
"I want to assure the families that the government and I will try our very best... make every effort." Also read: Oil prices to rise as high as $120 per barrel due to Iraq crisis | Iraq crisis: Badal ready to bear all expenses for return of workers
The 40 Indians working for a Turkish construction company have been abducted in violence-hit Iraq's Mosul area, which has been taken over by Sunni insurgents.
Nurses in Tikrit
Forty-six Indian nurses are also stranded at a hospital in Tikrit.
On Wednesday, foreign ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said that the government was in touch with the nurses who were confined to a dormitory within the hospital in Tikrit.
The spokesman said that the government was in contact with the Red Crescent and the United Nations. However, he added that it was safer for the nurses to stay put in the hospital since it is not safe to travel by road at the moment. "In connection with nurses, we contacted the Red Crescent. It was advised not to use surface route for rescue. Out of 46, several nurses prefer(red) to stay back," he said. Watch videos: Iraq crisis: 40 Indians kidnapped in Mosul, confirms MEA | IAF's Super Hercules prepares for evacuation of Indians in Iraq
Official sources said the Indian Mission in Baghdad was in touch with the Iraqi government and the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) to ensure the safety of all Indians stranded in the violence-affected areas of that country.
What's the scenario in Iraq?
With vast areas of Iraq outside the influence of the Iraqi regime led by Nouri Al-Maliki, which is facing the worst of its long drawn-out civil war, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, said to be an Al Qaeda-trained jihadist, seems to be holding the most territory apart from the Kurdish peshmerga in the Kurdish enclaves of Iraq and scattered Shia militia. The ISIS has put up videos of it killing Shia fighters of rival groups.
According to the MEA, there were more than 10,000 Indians in Iraq, of whom 6,000 were in the North, 3,000 in Baghdad and Basra while not more than 100 were in uncertain and disturbed areas.