Indian abductions in Iraq pose first crisis for new Modi government
| New Delhi
The kidnapping of 40 Indian construction workers in Iraq presents newly elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi 鈥� who came into office promising to be tough on security 鈥� with his first serious foreign policy crisis.聽
The abducted workers are in a known location and are believed to be held with workers from other countries, officials from India's foreign ministry announced Thursday. Asked if the Indians were safe,聽foreign office spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said聽鈥淭here is no safety in captivity.鈥�
India suspects that militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) abducted the Indian workers as they were trying to flee Mosul, a northern city overrun by ISIS last week. There is, however, no clarity on how the Indians were kidnapped and there have been no ransom demands. 聽
The government sent its former ambassador to Iraq, Suresh Reddy, to Baghdad today to coordinate rescue efforts. India鈥檚 foreign ministry has also set up a 24-hour control room in Delhi to provide information on聽the kidnapping, overseen by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.聽
There has been outrage in India about the government鈥檚 inability to聽inform Indian nationals about the deteriorating situation in Iraq.聽Many families are calling the control room for information and help.聽Some met the foreign minister today and asked her to secure the聽release of Indian workers. The media has also shifted its coverage聽from domestic politics to Iraq, with prominent footage of ISIS militants.聽
Many of the kidnapped Indian workers come from the Indian state of Punjab. The聽majority were working for Baghdad-based construction聽company Tariq Noor al-Huda. Families say they fear for the fate of the聽workers, who had gone Iraq to earn a living.
Reema Kumar, the wife of one of the men, told the Hindustan聽Times that her husband's phone has been switched off for the past week. "We are
constantly trying but his phone is switched-off for one week. It has聽never happened before," she said.
Another woman, Gurpinder Kaur told DNA India that her brother, Manjinder Singh, is聽also among the kidnap victims in Iraq. She said she spoke to him on the afternoon of June聽15 and that he said there were five others with him in Mosul.
"There was sound of gunfire at the time," said Ms. Kaur. 鈥淗e said he was聽safe but scared about the sudden fighting.鈥� After that short聽conversation there has been no news about Mr. Singh. She said her聽heart sinks every time she hears about intense fighting in Iraq.
There are about 10,000 Indian nationals living and working across聽Iraq. The majority of them are in areas not directly affected by the聽violence. Nearly 100 are in places where the security situation is聽tenuous, according to India鈥檚 foreign office.
As many as 46 Indian聽nurses were also stranded in another militant-controlled city, Tikrit,聽the hometown of late Saddam Hussein, waiting for the turmoil to subside.
