Diplomacy: How India Secured Its Nurses Release In Iraq

[timmy]

46 nurses taken captive by the Sunni insurgent group ISIS in Iraq were freed today and are being flown back home in what the Narendra Modi government is chalking up as its first diplomatic victory.
 
"It has been a day of dramatic developments," said foreign ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.
 
Many are crediting the diplomatic coup to Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, who, officials said, "worked day and night" and cancelled a trip to her constituency Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh to tackle the crisis. The minister reportedly held back-channel talks with several countries including Syria, Jordan and Turkey, which border ISIS territory. Significantly, 32 Turkish civilians were released by ISIS militants yesterday and over 50 consulate staff and others still captive.
 
Sources say Ms Swaraj reached out to her counterparts in the Gulf and other countries and sought their inputs. Last week, she reportedly met India's envoys in the Gulf seeking their assessment and discussing where to go for help. She also had a working lunch with envoys from those countries in Delhi. 
 
"All national assets were used, including India's international goodwill," Mr Akbaruddin said.
 
The foreign ministry also got in touch with non-government contacts, past and present.
 
Efforts are now on to rescue 39 construction workers who were kidnapped in Mosul two weeks ago. 
 
Critics questioned whether the government's efforts were belated. The foreign ministry said it was a considered decision.
 
"They made a judgement call and didn't want to come but as the situation got worse, they changed their mind... But then the access to land route is difficult... The only people who had it were the captors and so once this decision was taken, the nurses were brought out," Mr Akbaruddin said.
 

[timmy]

sHa_clap4  sHa_clap4  sHa_clap4

[timmy]

The special Air India flight sent to bring back 46 Indian nurses and over 100 others will take off soon from the airport in Erbil in the autonomous region of Kurdistan.

The nurses were freed by Sunni militant group ISIS in war-torn Iraq on Thursday evening.

HERE ARE THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

1. The plane was earlier not granted permission to land in Erbil and diverted to Iran. This was due to an 'information deficit' or because of security concerns in the troubled region, said sources. Communication has now been established between the two sides, they said. (Air India Plane Leaves for Iraq to Bring Back Freed Indian Nurses)

2. The Air India Boeing 777 is supposed to carry the passengers directly to Kochi as most of the Indians being brought back belong to Kerala. It is expected to land after 7 am. (46 Indian Nurses in Iraq Freed by Militants, Say Sources)

3. The plane, carrying some officials of the Ministry of External Affairs and the Kerala government, is going to bring over 100 other Indians who were trapped in the strife-torn country.

4. "We are very happy," Marina Jose, one of the freed nurses, told NDTV. She added that the militants had behaved well with them. She was now looking forward to going home to her family, said Ms Jose. (We Are Like Prisoners, Say Stranded Kerala Nurses in Iraq to NDTV)

5. Air India had also kept two Boeing 747 jumbos ready to fly at short notice, while cockpit and cabin crew to operate them were also on standby. Air India's special customer service team would be at Kochi airport to provide all necessary assistance to the passengers.

6. The 46 Indian and 10 Bangladeshi nurses had been living in a hospital in Tikrit, the birthplace of former president Saddam Hussein, which has seen fierce fighting this week as Iraqi troops battle to regain control of the city from the Sunni insurgent group ISIS or the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. (Captive Indian Nurses in Iraq 'Are Safe, Getting Food': 10 Developments)

7. On Thursday, they were forced to board two buses and were taken to Mosul. They were reportedly kept at a hospital there.

8. "Hope has triumphed. The nurses moved against their will are free," foreign ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said in New Delhi as news of the nurses being freed by the militants was confirmed.

9. 39 Indian construction workers kidnapped two weeks ago in Mosul remain in captivity. Mr Akbaruddin said there were a "significant number of other Indians" in ISIS captivity. "We will leave no stone unturned to get back our nationals from an extremely difficult situation," he said.

10. About 10,000 Indians work in Iraq. Scores of them have returned to India since fighting began. The government says some 900 people are ready to fly home.

 

[timmy]

Iraq crisis: 116 Indians to reach home on Saturday, efforts on to rescue others in captivity

 

As many as 116 Indians including 46 nurses from Kerala will reach India on Saturday morning, reassured the Ministry of External Affairs on Friday evening.

MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said that an Air India aircraft has flown from New Delhi and is expected to reach Erbil, Iraq, late on Friday.

Assuring that the government was putting in all efforts in ensuring the safety of Indian nationals, MEA said that a joint secretary level officer will co-ordinate with authorities in Iraq for the safety of Indians there.

The Air India flight that will carry the 46 nurses and 70 others is expected to reach Kochi on Saturday morning. It will then head back to New Delhi to de-board more passengers if needed, said Akbaruddin.

Even as process is underway to bring back as many as 116 Indians from the war-torn country, 39 Indian nationals continue to be held captive in Mosul. The MEA said that the resources that went into freeing the nurses would be used in the case of others too.

"People are still in captivity and we are aware of the captors," said Akbaruddin. Without divulging any information on the efforts that went into the freeing of these 46 nurses, MEA said, "Anything we say may possibly impact other elements. So I won't say who we worked with and how we worked."

"Diplomacy works through the front doors. We are using other doors and how those doors were used and knocked on and how they were opened up is a story for another day. The story for today is that one of those doors opened and we were able to extricate our nationals," the spokesperson said.

He further noted that the Indian officials were "always in touch" with what was going on with the nurses and said "Things don't happen just like that. There is a lot of effort, patience and a lot of quiet work that has gone into this." A joint-secretary level IFS officer and an IAS woman officer from Kerala are among the Indian officials travelling on the chartered flight.

The ordeal of the nurses, who were working at a hospital in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, began when a swift ISIS (Islamic State for Iraq and Syria) offensive was launched on June 9.

The nurses were moved in a vehicle by rebel from their hospital in Tikrit yesterday and were lodged in an old building near a hospital in Mosul, according to family members of a nurse from Kottayam.

India used all "national assets" to secure the release of the nurses from ISIS, who had forced them to move out of their hospital in Tikrit yesterday against their "free will", the MEA Spokesperson said.

With 46 nurses out of the conflict zone, nearly 50 Indians are still expected to be in these zones, which include the 39 captives. Meanwhile, nearly 1,500 Indian have registered to leave Iraq from the no-conflict zone. Already, about 1,000 Indian nationals have been given tickets to travel out of Iraq by the ministry.

There were about 10,000 Indians before the start of the serious strife between government troops and Sunni militants backed by al Qaida.

[ramu]

Gp

[timmy]

ltt

[alpachinao]

Single line lo cheppu na..who did that nice job

[timmy]

Single line lo cheppu na..who did that nice job

1 post lo red line pettanu kadha avi chaduvu 

[siru]

Very happy to know they r safe.
I am closely following the iraq crisis.. What stood out was that none of the insurgent groups or ruling govt. have anything against Indian Nationals... Heck we can land our plane on Iran's soil with a short notice... There r a very few countries whom iran considers as their friends and we r one of them.
This incident just proves again that india has such a goodwill among the middle east nations no matter who they r.. Sunni, shia..
I salute and thank thise isis people for not harming our citizens. :)

[JANASENA]

Gp thank god they are Safe !!!!

[JANASENA]

Gp thank god they are Safe !!!!

[timmy]

Gp thank god they are Safe !!!!

Phone DBing aa ? 

[JANASENA]

Phone DBing aa ?

Yes baa !!! Etta pasigattav ?

[timmy]

Yes baa !!! Etta pasigattav ?

rendu sarlu padindhi post andhukani 

[JANASENA]

rendu sarlu padindhi post andhukani

Yeah