VK Singh flies to Iraq to trace 39 Indian workers

NEW DELHI/CHANDIGARH: Minister of state for external affairs VK Singh left for Erbi (Iraq) on Monday as government stepped up efforts to trace the 39 construction workers --- mostly from Punjab --- who were abducted from the town three years ago.

India has a consulate in Erbil, some 90 kms away from Mosul, and the minister will be coordinating the efforts to locate and release the Indian workers.

External affairs minister assured Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh that the government is doing everything possible to secure their release.

Reacting to reports that the families of the Indian hostages were trying to locate their kin, 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 VK Singh (retd) 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 said.

The ambassador of India to Iraq and consul general in Erbil have been instructed to continue the efforts to locate them on priority. “Iraqi authorities have conveyed that all cooperation would be extended in this regard and instructions have been issued by them to all relevant agencies,” said a spokesperson for external affairs ministry.

WORKERS, MOSTLY FROM PUNJAB, WERE ABDUCTED FROM MOSUL ABOUT THREE YEARS AGO