2200 Indians want to come back from Iraq: MEA
"Also, we are ready to provide assistance in terms of those who may have contractual problems that may delay their departure. Based on that, our assessment is that approximately 2200 Indian nationals have in some form or the other indicated their desire to leave," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said while addressing a press conference on Sunday.
"Of these, 600 are those who have been provided tickets through the facilitation of our Mission in Iraq to depart, and 600 have been paid by their respective companies. In addition, approximately 1600 are being provided tickets by the Government of India for their return from Iraq to India," he said.
Giving further details, he said, "In addition, tonight an Iraqi Airways flight, this is a normal flight from Baghdad to New Delhi, is also being diverted to Najaf and it will carry back 117 Indian nationals who will arrive here approximately at 2:30 am. Also, within the next 36 to 48 hours, two other special flights will be flying into New Delhi. One of these is from Najaf tomorrow morning. The flight starts at 11:30 am there and it is expected around 6:30pm in New Delhi. This will carry approximately 200 Indian nationals. Another flight will take off from Basra. This will be the first special flight from Basra. That flight will carry 286 Indian nationals from Basra to Delhi."
Akbaruddin said the country is processing documents for another '200 plus' people.
"It is our hope that in the next 48 hours all 1600 who had wanted to return to India on Government of India tickets will be back in India. The 600 who are being paid for by their respective companies, several of them have already come back. The others are, even as we speak, are on commercial flights from their respective areas in Iraq to India. These people are from Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata, and Mumbai. These are the flights through which we are bringing in people on commercial flights," he said.
With that we would be able to complete the process of bringing back most of those who have wanted to come back. That said, we are also doing what we thought is a due diligence exercise because approximately 486 telephone calls were received by our control rooms here as well as in Baghdad. Based on those calls we are responding to each of them, and we hope to clarify to them that the people they want have either come back or do not want to come back. These are both options. Ultimately it is a judgment call of an individual and it is for that individual to take that call, although the Government of India stands ready to assist them in every way possible.
Speaking on the situation of calls received by control rooms in Baghdad and New Delhi, he said: "That said, we are also doing what we thought is a due diligence exercise because approximately 486 telephone calls were received by our control rooms here as well as in Baghdad. Based on those calls we are responding to each of them, and we hope to clarify to them that the people they want have either come back or do not want to come back. These are both options. Ultimately it is a judgment call of an individual and it is for that individual to take that call, although the Government of India stands ready to assist them in every way possible."
He said the considerable lowering of levels of anxiety and concern has been reflected over the reduction of calls from 60 to 80 calls to four to six in recent times.
"At the beginning of this exercise when we started the control room we used to get about 60 to 80 calls. Today we are down to four to six. That indicates to us that the level of anxiety, the level of concern has reduced considerably," Akbaruddin said.
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