Iraq crisis poses first serious test for Narendra Modi government

NEW DELHI: The kidnapping of 40 Indians in Iraq has got the top echelons of the Modi government worried whether it could end up becoming like the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC 814, which brought the then BJP administration led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee to its knees and exposed it to criticism for being weak.

The Iraqi kidnappers may well release the workers for a hefty sum of money as it had happened in the past in the case of three Indian truck drivers kidnapped by Iraqi militants in 2004, and the crisis may blow over. But senior officials monitoring the situation fear a terrorist plot to seek the release of prisoners in Indian jails behind this episode of kidnapping could create a Kandahar-like crisis. As Indian officials led by Modi’s National Security Advisor AK Doval work the phones and burn the midnight oil to bring this crisis to an end, there is a creeping fear about how will this latest episode end. A top government official, familiar with the efforts, said the situation on ground was “extremely difficult”.

The kidnapping earlier this week from Mosul, a city that has been overrun by Islamic militants, of the 40 Indian men, most of them poor construction workers belonging to Punjab, is fast becoming a big headache for the Modi government that came to power last month by promising to be tough on national security.

In addition to Red Crescent, an international aid group working in the region, Indian authorities are trying to get in touch with some local middlemen who could help in opening a communication channel with the kidnappers. Doval, who is personally supervising the entire operation in Iraq, is in constant touch with Suresh Reddy, a former envoy to Iraq who has been sent again to Baghdad to manage the crisis on ground, and also with Ambassador Ajay Kumar.

Doval was the key negotiator for the government in the wake of 1999 hijacking to Kandahar. India had to release three terrorists to secure the release of 178 passengers and the crew on board.