Government waiting for Iraq's nod to bring back mortal remains: General VK Singh
VK Singh
Singh said that all the legal procedures for obtaining the mortal remains of the Indians killed in Iraq were complete and the government was waiting for a green signal from the Baghdad ambassador
Minister of State for External Affairs General VK Singh has said that the government is waiting for the permission of the Iraqgovernmentfor bringing back the mortal remains of 39 Indians who died in Iraq.
He said that all the legal procedures for obtaining the mortal remains of the Indians killed in Iraq were complete and the government was waiting for a green signal from the Baghdad ambassador.
Singh further added that the families of the deceased need not come to the airport, instead, the government will fly to the respective states and hand over the mortal remains to the respectivefamilies.
He said " As soon as we get a nod from the Baghdad ambassador we will leave with a C-17 plane to bring back the mortal remains with due honours. We will handover the mortal remains to their families. They won't have to come to the airport."
Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh will visit Iraq on April 1 to bring back the mortal remains of the Indians, who were killed by ISIS in Mosul, Iraq.
On March 20, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had informed the Parliamentabout the death of 39 people of Indian origin in Mosul.
Those killed were allegedlyabducted by the ISIS in Mosul.
Out of 39 people killed, 27 belonged to Punjab while 4 hailed from Himachal, 6 from Bihar and 1 from West Bengal.