Govt scrambles to pull out all Indians from strife-torn Iraq

NEW DELHI: India's operation in strife-torn Iraq is fast taking the shape of a full-scale evacuation of all Indians. Evacuation is being carried out not only from Sunni-controlled troubled areas, but also from Shia-dominated areas that are relatively peaceful, indicating that New Delhi now believes that the situation in Iraq is fast spinning out of control. This week, over 600 Indians will leave their workplaces and jobs and fly back to India, helped by the Indian government. Many of these people do not have their papers in order. The Indian embassy is quickly putting their documents in place and planning to put these Indians on commercial flights from Baghdad and other Iraqi cities from where flights are still taking off. Already two ships have been sent to Iraq to evacuate stranded Indians. It is reliably learnt that cargo ships have also been sent to Basra to carry Indians to the nearest safe port from where IAF or Air India planes will carry them back home. With ISIS declaring the establishment of a caliphate, the reading here is that the Sunni-Shia battle will get more bitter. As there's no one really with a line to ISIS, the sense of foreboding has only grown. Meanwhile, it is believed here that the 40 kidnapped Indians are being used as captive labour by ISIS. Describing the transportation of Indians back home as a "proactive approach", MEA spokesman Syed Akbaruddin told journalists that Indian diplomats are seeking out Indian nationals at their homes and places of work in Iraq to deliver the message that they should leave while the going is good and the airports are still open. The MEA has dispatched over 25 officials to the key Iraq cities outside the conflict zone to facilitate the repatriation of Indian workers by helping them with documentation and air tickets. TOI