Taking the first major diplomatic challenge head-on, the new Indian government is working virtually 24×7 and is leaving no stone unturned to secure the release of 40 Indians abducted in the Iraqi city of Mosul.
Amid mounting concerns over the plight of Indian hostages, the rescue strategy and efforts are being firmed up and monitored right at the top. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj are personally monitoring the developments to bring this ordeal to a quick end. “I’m personally supervising the efforts. Will leave no stone unturned to ensure rescue of our citizens,” said Swaraj, who also met families of 12 of these workers June 19.
“I want to assure the families that the government and I will try our very best… make every effort,” said Swaraj, India’s first female foreign minister in decades.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu underlined that the government was working 24×7 to ensure release of Indian hostages. “First of all, the priority is to get them back, to get them released. The government is working 24×7… Our effort is to see that they are released at the earliest. We are using all our channels to get them released,” Naidu said.
Food Processing Industries Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who hails from Punjab, India’s northern state which accounts for many of Indian hostages, said all the affected families in Punjab had been told to alert the authorities if they get any telephone call from the workers or any lead on their location. “Our prime minister and the external affairs ministry are closely monitoring the situation,” she said.
India’s foreign office has shared with journalists that the Iraqi foreign office has informed New Delhi that they are aware of the location of kidnapped Indians. But there is no clarity yet on the identity of kidnappers or whether Indians are being held by the Sunni militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which has launched a concerted strike against the Nour al-Maliki government.
“The Iraqi foreign ministry has told us they have been able to determine where the Indians are held captive,” Syed Akbaruddin, spokesperson of India’s external affairs ministry, said in New Delhi June 19. He added that the workers of other nationalities were also held captive.
“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.
Many of kidnapped Indians are from Punjab, better known as the breadbasket of India. They were working the Baghdad-based construction company Tariq Noor al-Huda. No ransom call has been made so far.
This is the first time in recent history such a large number of Indians have been kidnapped in a foreign country. The motives and identity of the kidnappers remain hazy.
Iraq is home to around 10,000 Indian nationals. But, fortunately for India, a majority of them are in areas not directly affected by the violence. Nearly 100 are in places “where the security situation is tenuous,” said Syed Akbaruddin.
Besides the 40 construction workers, 46 Indian nurses are stranded in another militant-controlled city, Tikrit.
The intensifying violence in Iraq, which has shut down a major oil refinery in the Gulf country, is bad news for India as the conflict may plunge the entire region into prolonged turmoil. The Gulf region accounts for over 70 per cent of India’s oil imports and is home to 7-million strong Indian diaspora, who contribute around $40 billion in annual remittances.
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