Live
- ‘Get Set, Grow Summit 2024’ Focuses on Digital Detox for Families
- Stokes motivates his team to put in extra effort, says England pacer Potts
- From overcoming setbacks to leading India in U19 Women’s Asia Cup, Niki Prasad's amazing journey
- Driving Enterprise Security: Inside Venkata Reddy Thummala’s Leadership Journey
- Constitution debate: PM Modi hails 'Nari Shakti'; makes strong pitch for 'United Bharat’
- Abhijeet Bhardwaj: Revolutionizing Enterprise Analytics with Innovation and Expertise
- Bihar: Inquiry initiated against principal who went to buy veggies during school hours
- Press Sri Lankan Prez for release of Indian fishermen: TN Cong MP to EAM Jaishankar
- TN: DMK postpones executive meet due to heavy rains & Parliament session
- Porous silicon oxide electrodes can fix durability issues in batteries: Researchers
Not sure, whether they’re alive: Iraq
After a meeting with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj here on Monday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Dr Ibrahim Al-Eshaiker Al-Jafari told reporters that his government has no substantial evidence whether the 39 Indians who went missing in Mosul were killed or are still alive.
No proof of life, we’re very sad about it, says Iraqi minister
New Delhi: After a meeting with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj here on Monday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Dr Ibrahim Al-Eshaiker Al-Jafari told reporters that his government has no substantial evidence whether the 39 Indians who went missing in Mosul were killed or are still alive.
“Not sure 100 per cent whether they are alive or not. We are doing our best,” he said. Al-Jaafari, who is on a visit to India from July 24 to July 28, met with Swaraj at Jawaharlal Nehru for a discussion on bilateral relations between the two nations.
His visit came just two weeks after Iraq Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the liberation of country’s second largest city, Mosul, from the ISIS.
Sushma Swaraj met the relatives of the missing Indians last week and said they might be imprisoned in Badush region of northwest Mosul.
However, a media report on Saturday claimed that the prison was reduced to a rubble during the fighting between the Iraqi coalition forces and Islamic State.
The Indian community
A man from Hyderabad Tirupati works at the famous Indian restaurant in Erbil. He has been in the capital of Kurdistan regional government for the last three years.
He says Erbil is safe but ever since the abduction of the 39 Indians, the Indian community has been worried. "We are very sad about them that they are stuck there...that where they are...I feel very very sad. We want to know where they are.
Whether they are safe or if they are in any trouble," said Tirupati. He also added, "Mosul people are coming here, they used to live there but the Indian people are stuck there."
About 6,000 Indians live in Erbil and at the beginning of the conflict 22,000 lived in Iraq. As with other parts of the Middle East, Indians come to Iraq looking for work in construction, oil refineries, marketing and as engineers. Middle-East provides India with a high amount in remittances and livelihood.
