The Iraqi authorities have conveyed that all cooperation would be extended and instructions have been issued by them to all relevant Iraqi agencies to locate the missing.Minister of state for external Affairs V. K. Singh. Credit: PTINew Delhi: With the Iraq government announcing the capture of Mosul city from the so-called ISIS, Indian minister of state for external affairs V. K. Singh will travel to Kurdistan to locate the 39 Indians who have been missing since 2014.The MEA official spokesperson Gopal Baglay said that India welcomed the “liberation of Mosul from ISIS” as an “important milestone in the global war on terror.”He said that the government had “activated” various channels for locating the 39 missing Indians.The Indian Express reported on Monday (July 10) about the complaints of the next of kin of the 39 Indians, who said that the government was not fulfilling its commitment to bring them back.“Minister of state for external affairs general (Dr) V.K. Singh (Retired) is to travel to Erbil later today. The Ambassador of India to Iraq and our Consul General in Erbil have been instructed to continue the efforts to locate them on priority,” said Baglay.Further, he added that Iraqi authorities have conveyed that all cooperation would be extended in this regard and instructions have been issued by them to all relevant Iraqi agencies for the same.A group of 40 Indians were first taken captive when ISIS captured Mosul in June 2014. Out of them, only one Indian managed to escape and claimed that rest of his compatriots had been killed. However, the Indian government did not accept his version, stating that there were discrepancies and there was no proof.At one time, the government had said that it had six sources who claimed to have sighted the remaining Indians. However, with no ‘proof of life’ or otherwise, the government kept their files open.
