New Delhi: General VK Singh on Thursday tweeted from Iraq claiming that the frontline areas of Mosul were being cleared by the Kurdish military forces in Iraq, Peshmerga, and that he was still looking for information on the 39 Indian held in the area by ISIS. Relatives of the missing have now said that they would wait till June 16 for news about those abducted, failing which, they will all get together and once again reach Delhi.
Visited Peshmarga frontline in Mosul area to seek information on Indians held by ISIS. Peshmerga still clearing ISiS held areas. pic.twitter.com/ND1Auczcz7— Vijay Kumar Singh (@Gen_VKSingh) July 12, 2017
Family members are questioning why despite Minister of State for External Affairs General VK Singh reaching Erbil and Mosul there is still no information regarding the missing construction workers.
Union Minister Harsimrat Badal had earlier said they know the exact map location of the missing Indians.
Searching for the missing Indians, most of whom are from Punjab, Gen VK Singh had met with Peshmerga fighters at the frontlines of Mosul. Later, Gen Singh tweeted he had a meeting with the Iraqi Foreign Minister Dr Ibrahim Al Jaafari.
Met with Dr. Ibrahim Al Jaafari, Foreign Minister of Iraq. pic.twitter.com/m053NJ5U1U— Vijay Kumar Singh (@Gen_VKSingh) July 13, 2017
After Mosul was liberated by Iraqi forces and the external affairs ministry had given relatives of the construction workers assurances that they had credible source based information on the whereabouts of the missing Indians. The 39 construction workers had last been in contact with their family members three years back. Following their capture, there have been no news of either their well-being or their whereabouts.
“I always suspected that the government was not sure of their exact location or even for that matter their well-being. Whenever we asked for information, all that they told us was to have patience. If we do not get any news by Sunday, we will all go to Delhi and seek answers,” says Gurpinder Kaur, whose brother is among the missing.
On July 10, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj assured Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh that her ministry was making all-out efforts to trace and facilitate the return of the missing Indians.
“Air Indian officials at the airports had also been instructed to facilitate their return,” said Sushma, adding that her ministry had activated all available sources to trace the missing Indians, who were last heard of hiding in a church in Mosul.
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