New Delhi activates channels to locate 39 missing Indians in Iraq

new delhi — With Mosul liberated from the Daesh, India has activated various channels to locate the 39 Indians who were abducted by the terror group from the Iraqi city three years ago and is sending Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh to Iraq, an official said on Monday.

In response to a query, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said that as soon as the announcement of Mosul’s liberation was made by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi, the Indian government activated various channels for locating the missing Indians. He said that Singh will leave for Erbil.

“Ambassador of India to Iraq and our Consul General in Erbil have been instructed to continue the efforts to locate them on priority.”

Baglay added that Iraqi authorities have conveyed that all cooperation would be extended and instructions have been issued by them to all relevant Iraqi agencies.

The development comes as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday assured Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh that her ministry was making allout efforts to trace and facilitate the return of the 39 Indians.

Reacting to reports that the families of the Indian hostages were trying to locate their kin after Iraqi forces freed Mosul from the clutches of Daesh, Amarinder sought her active intervention in the matter. He said the families of the hostages were keenly awaiting the return of their kin.

“Assuring of all possible efforts by her ministry to bring back the Indians, who were construction workers taken into custody in 2014, Sushma said General V.K. Singh had been sent to Iraq to coordinate with the Iraqi government to facilitate the return of the Indians stuck there.

She said she had also directed the Indian embassy to extend all help to the stranded Indians,” a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) disclosed in Chandigarh. —