Sushma Swaraj appeals to Iraqi captors to release Indians as Eid gift

NEW DELHI: The government said on Thursday that Indian construction workers in captivity in Iraq continue to be unharmed as external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj suggested Parliament to consider issuing an appeal to the kidnappers to release them as an Eid gift.

Forty-one Indian workers are currently in the custody of Sunni jihadist group ISIS in Mosul in Iraq. Replying to a calling attention motion in Lok Sabha on the situation in Iraq, the minister seemed to remind the captors that India refused to send armed forces to Iraq when the Americans invaded the country.

"The holy period of Ramzan is on. The House should appeal to those who have kept these 41 Indians captive to release them before Eid as a special Ramzan gift," she said adding that those kidnapped were like her children.

READ ALSO: 40 Indians kidnapped in Iraq's Mosul, involvement of ISIS rebels suspected

India has had very good historical relations with Iraq, she said, as she recalled "several years ago, it was this House that had passed a resolution and we did not send our armed forces to Iraq".

However, the House did not adopt a resolution as Speaker Sumitra Mahajan took up the next item on the agenda immediately after Swaraj ended her reply to the motion raised by Congress member K C Venugopal, RSP's N K Premachandran and AAP's Dharam Vira Gandhi.

Of the 41 held captive, 31 belong to Punjab, four each to Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and two to West Bengal, Swaraj said.

"While we don't have any direct contact with them, but according to several sources, we have got to know they are safe and alive, they are being given food," Swaraj said.

Swaraj refused to reveal details about rescue efforts, saying secrecy was imperative in such negotiations. "Did you get to know our plan when we got the 46 nurses from Kerala released?"

She said as of July 22, over 4,000 Indian nationals have been provided assistance for travelling back to India, including air tickets to 3,113 nationals, since the setting up of the camp offices.

"The safety and security of Indian nationals, especially 41 Indian nationals in captivity in Mosul, is a matter of foremost concern and pre-occupation for us. We are leaving no stone unturned for their safe return," she added.

Of a total of around 22,000 Indians present in Iraq, around 15,000 are in the safe region of Kurdistan which was "a matter of relief", she said. Moving the calling attention motion, Congress member Venugopal wanted to know whether the captors had demanded some ransom for the release of the 41 Indians. He also said 55,000 Indians were stranded in various parts of Iraq and sought to know what steps were being taken to bring them back.

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