Official Spokesperson (Shri Syed Akbaruddin):
Good afternoon and welcome to you all. I would like to make one announcement and that relates to the situation in Iraq. Following that I will answer any questions you may have on that issue. After that I am open to answering any other questions you may want to ask.
As regards the situation in Iraq we have now moved to what we term as the next phase in our assistance to Indian nationals. We term this phase as the facilitation phase. In this phase we have today opened three camp offices – in Basra, in Najaf and in Karbala. These camp offices are being staffed by our officials who have been specially flown in to Iraq.
The offices will not be functioning from one place but actually any time there is a request they will go to the Indian nationals or to the organisation that he or she is working in. The idea is that they would be mobile, they would be willing to go across and meet any Indians because we have heard different stories coming out in terms of anecdotal evidence. We now stand ready to assist all our nationals in their places of work.
We will put out the mobile numbers of each of these teams. Each of these cities will have about three officials specifically designated to work with Indian nationals. In addition, in a couple of days we will double this strength. So, you will have adequate number of people attending to all requests for assistance of any sort. In this phase, the assistance will include not only going and meeting the Indian nationals in the place of their work but also providing them travel documents if any of them have a problem with travel documents, resolving issues of a contractual nature by interceding with their sponsors, and for those who are indigent and not able to afford air tickets air tickets will be provided.
These are for Indian nationals all over Iraq. There will not be any restriction for any place in any part of Iraq, should any Indian national want to return home. We will then have an idea of what the ground level realities in different parts of Iraq are, and we will accordingly adjust and work out a strategy to assist them in the best manner possible. For your information, on our last count we had received 421 telephone calls. And we will address each one of them according to their request. I will provide you the telephone numbers now and I would request you to disseminate them as broadly as possible so that no person has a grouse or is unable to be accessed due to want of information. The numbers are as follows:
Najaf: Mr. Abu Mathen George – 00964 77165 111 90.
Mr. Srinivasa Rao – 00964 77165 111 81.
Mr. Rakesh Singh – 00964 77165 111 79.
All these three officials are already in Najaf. When we last spoke to them they were already working out with different companies from where they had received requests.
Karbala: Mr. Anil Sapra – 00964 77165 111 80.
Mr. Jeevan Singh – 00964 77165 111 76.
These officials are already in place in Karbala and working.
Our team for Basra is already on the way to Basra which is approximately 500 km from Baghdad. They left this morning, they should be reaching there in the next half an hour or so. I will in any case give you the numbers and the names of the persons because they are available on the mobile phones right away.
Basra: Mr. Narasimha Murthy – 00964 77165 111 82
Mr. Asif Shah Ahmad – 00964 77165 111 78
Also we will have control rooms in each of these cities so that in case people are not able to contact by phone they can also send in e-mails with the details and our officials will go to the places of work or places of stay, talk to them, talk to their sponsors, work out what they would want and then take the next step in this regard.
These seven numbers are operational. We will provide two more numbers which will be operational in the next few hours. And then in the next 48 to 72 hours we expect to double the officials who will be available in a roving capacity to assist any Indian national for each of these issues (a) in case they have any problem with travel documentation, (b) in case they have any problem with contractual obligations if they have to move out, and (c) in case they have any problem with acquisition of air tickets.
I will stop here and will respond to any questions that you may like to ask on this matter. After that I will be willing to respond to questions on anything else.
Question: Sir, could you please tell us the progress of the rescue effort in the case of the 39 Indians in captivity? How far have we moved? Is there any positive information …(Inaudible)…?
Official Spokesperson: Ashish, those Indians remain in captivity. Yet, we have additional information received today that they remain unharmed. There are some leads provided, we are working on them. But please understand, this is a conflict situation, there is no certainty in where we proceed from here. Therefore, we are extremely careful in taking this step-by-step. But what we can tell you is, they remain unharmed, they remain in captivity, and we have some leads about them. These are in addition to what we have got previously.
Question: Akbar, have we sought any assistance from India’s external partners, any other country, over the hostage situation or we have been proactively in touch with them over the Iraq situation in general?
Official Spokesperson: Manish, I think I mentioned very graphically what we are doing, let me repeat it. We are knocking on all doors – front doors, backdoors and trapdoors. Let me also add, tomorrow the External Affairs Minister has called in all our Ambassadors from the Gulf. They will provide their inputs. In addition, as part of an interactive session, Ambassadors of some of those countries located here will also join our Ambassadors so that we can take this matter forward in terms of what assistance we may require from all of them. The morning session in which we will have a brainstorming with our Ambassadors would be followed with a sort of an interactive luncheon meeting where we have called and requested Ambassadors of countries from where our Ambassadors are coming in to join in so that we can seek their assistance on specific issues.
Question: Is any evacuation plan also ready to bring all Indians from Iraq?
Official Spokesperson: Let me tell you that this is a national endeavour and, therefore, it is normal for all our national assets to be in readiness. As and when they are required, it is normal contingency planning on a regular basis that this is done. I am not a logistics specialist to tell you the details of these because this is a specialised type of skill which unfortunately I am not privy to. That said, we do not see any possibility of any national asset not being available should it be required. That is what is perhaps percolating into the public space in all forms and that you may be jumping the gun in these. Let me tell you, this is a national endeavour and all national assets will be in readiness should they be required to assist our nationals who are in difficult circumstances in Iraq.
Question: There are reports that a warship has also been sent to Iraq for evacuation. What was the need to send a ship and that too a warship?
Official Spokesperson: I already told you I am not a logistics expert. So I will not get into specifics of logistical issues. I explained that should any national asset be required, there is contingency planning being worked out to deploy there should it be required. At this stage, I told you what we are doing. We are doing on the ground what is required as a basic exercise. Everything else is some way down. At this stage we are contacting our nationals, asking them if they require assistance, if they have concerns and fears. Please understand, the overwhelming majority of our nationals are in what is today a safe zone. But there are concerns and, therefore, it is our duty as government officials to try and assuage those concerns. If those concerns are assuaged by a logistical step, well and good; if they are assuaged by multiple logistical steps, those will also be taken.
Question: Akbar, could you please outline which Ambassadors are being called in and Ambassadors from which countries exactly are coming in?
Official Spokesperson: All the Gulf states – Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia.
Question: Sir, India has a very close relationship with Iraq and now diplomatically there must be some effort with Iraq so that the situation can be controlled. Some people are asking that the Prime Minister should resign and a new Prime Minister should be in place in Iraq to defuse the situation. What step is India taking so that politically we can intervene there in Iraq and a solution might be found?
Official Spokesperson: Dr. Akhilesh Suman, you are a commentator of long standing in terms of Indian foreign policy now. In matters essentially of a domestic nature, you know our views. There is already a process that has been set in motion domestically in Iraq. Let us allow that process to reach its normal conclusion or culmination. There are efforts by various people within Iraq to push the process in a variety of ways. As a well wisher and a friend of Iraq, as you said, we hope that Iraq will come to a conclusion which will ensure peace and stability in the region.
Question: Almost two weeks are over now. Already allegations are being made that the Government of India has failed in handling the situation. Those who are making allegations are asking, apart from the daily press conferences what concrete steps you have taken to evacuate the people of India? As regards the 46 nurses from Kerala who are in Tikrit, there are reports that there was a blast inside the hospital yesterday.
Official Spokesperson: I think it is very easy to make allegations but it is very difficult to work on the ground. We have demonstrated that we are on the ground. We have added additional people on the ground, and we will remain on the ground. Secondly, you are aware and some of you are not aware also, the number of Indians wanting voluntarily to return is an ongoing thing. Let me give you an example. Just yesterday there were 20 Indian nationals from the State of Gujarat who wanted to come back, and they have returned. They were in what we term as safe areas. We have repeatedly said that there are no restrictions for anyone in the safe areas to return. There have been people from different parts, every day we read stories of people coming in small numbers back to India voluntarily. We are facilitating those voluntary returns.
From the conflict zone, I have previously explained to you the number of people who we have been able to rescue and bring to India. The most recent were 17 from Samara. Samara is in a conflict zone. They were working in a Wartsila plant and from there those 17 Indian nationals were rescued, evacuated and returned to India. We are not providing those graphic details to you does not mean to say that we are not at work.
Let me put another thing for your consideration. Those in the conflict zone you referred to are 46 nurses and we are well aware of that. In fact, just half an hour ago our Ambassador did contact them. They are, you are right, worried because there has been a fresh bout of fighting in Tikrit. However, there have not been any explosions in their compound. We can confirm to you, there were no explosions in their compound. There were in a university complex which is some distance away and it is just those noises that they heard.
In conflict zones Missions can only do what is possible because we do not control the terrain there. The terrain is difficult for us to move them out. However, in the case of Samara we had used helicopters to airlift 17 Indians out of a difficult situation. Where it is possible we are doing all our best. Let me assure you, despite your misgivings we will continue to do our best and hope that we will succeed in what I mentioned to you is a national endeavour. So, let us all be united in this. We have Indian nationals there from different States. Let us work towards helping them out rather than pointing accusing fingers.
Question: How many Indians are still in the conflict zone?
Official Spokesperson: Nobody can give you a headcount of great accuracy. We feel that they would be about a 100. I am just giving you a ballpark figure based on the numbers that we have. It is not that we have 100 per cent numbers with us, but the numbers remain extremely small. In the non-conflict areas which we are now addressing – Najaf, Karbala, Basra and Baghdad – our understanding is the numbers would be about 10,000. So, the overwhelming numbers of people who we are assisting currently are those who are also in the non-conflict areas. And this is as a pre-emptive measure where conflict has not yet even crept in. If any of you have any questions on issues other than this, I will answer them.
Question: Today there is some media reports that there was a fresh intrusion of Chinese troops in the Ladakh region. The reports quoted South Block sources. We want to know what is the situation?
Official Spokesperson: I think I have explained to you previously, we are confident that our valiant and brave sentinels at the borders will be able to provide an appropriate response, should any incident occur on the border.
Question: There is a news report which suggests that China in its latest map has included all the disputed territory as its own, including a lot in South China Sea but also Arunachal Pradesh. What is India’s reaction to that?
Official Spokesperson: Geeta, cartographic depiction does not change the reality on the ground. The fact that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of India has been clearly conveyed to the Chinese authorities on several occasions including at the very highest level.
Question: Just to follow up on that, is it likely that that is going to come up during the visit of the Vice-President and the delegation there in China?
Official Spokesperson: It is our normal practice that we raise all issues of concern during discussions.
Question: Geeta has already asked this question. Some part of Kashmir and some part of Arunachal Pradesh …(Inaudible)…and you have said that you have already conveyed your displeasure to the Chinese authority.
Official Spokesperson: I did not say that. I have said what I have said. It is available on the record. Please do not summarise me. What I have said is available. But you have asked your question.
Question: Sir, is there any communication from China regarding this map?
Official Spokesperson: We have not had any communication on that.If there are no further questions, we will conclude now. Thank you very much for being here this afternoon.
(Conclude)
