All kidnapped Indians in Iraq are 'safe', says External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj

NEW DELHI: External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj has said the Indians kidnapped in Iraq are holed up in a government building, assuring the family members without disclosing the location that India will try to get them released as soon as possible. “The 40 men are safe... When the situation normalises, we will try to get them released,” Swaraj on Thursday told a delegation of family members of the kidnapped men, who worked for a Turkish company and were mostly from Punjab. “I want to assure the families that the government and I will try our very best... make every effort,” she told the delegation, which was accompanied by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

A spokesperson of the family members said the minister told them that the workers were abducted while being taken to a safe place following the outbreak of fighting in Mosul, one of the major Iraqi cities seized by Sunni insurgents. “The minister said blank passports and tickets would be issued to them so that they can be brought back when they are released,” said Manjit Singh GK, president of the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee, who was part of the delegation that met the minister.

Badal had also earlier vowed to make every effort to ensure the release of the workers. Food Processing Industries Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said the affected families in Punjab had been told to alert the authorities if they got a telephone call from the workers. Former Union minister Anand Sharma said the Congress strongly condemned the abduction of Indian workers which has caused deep distress to the affected families.