AMN\
NEW DELHI/
Iraq Foreign Minister Dr Ibrahim al-Jaafari has arrived in New Delhi on a five-day visit to India Monday. Jaafari is scheduled to meet his counterpart Sushma Swaraj, Union Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan and Vice President Hamid Ansari. Minister of External Affairs is expected to discuss the issue of 39 missing Indians and Indian’s role in the reconstruction of Iraq with Jaafari.
Iraq Foreign Minister will hold discussion on the entire gamut of bilateral relations between both the nations, in addition to regional and international issues of mutual interest Indian External Affairs Minister .
The focus of the meet is likely to be the issue of 39 Indians kidnapped by the Islamic State militants three years back from Iraq’s Mosul. Jaafari’s visit comes two weeks after Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared the liberation of Mosul from the ISIS.
In their talks, the two sides will to take stock of bilateral relations and explore ways to enhance cooperation in areas of energy and trade. Iraq Foreign Minister’s visit is expected to add further impetus to both countries’ mutual constructive bilateral engagement.
During this visit, the Iraq Foreign Minister would also visit Mumbai to attend a programme.
On Sunday, the Embassy of Iraq in New Delhi released a statement saying that the search operations are still underway for the missing 39 Indian citizens who were abducted and taken as prisoners by Daesh terrorist group (Islamic State) in 2014. The embassy also stated that there is a high-level coordination between Iraqi and Indian authorities to locate the missing Indians.
In a statement, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, “India and Iraq have historically enjoyed close and friendly political, economic and cultural ties. Our robust bilateral trade amounted to nearly US$ 13 billion in 2016-17. Iraq contributes significantly to India’s energy security and is the second-largest supplier of crude oil to us (over 37 MMT during 2016-17). Thousands of Indians visit Iraq annually for a pilgrimage to the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.”
Earlier this year, Minister of State for External Affairs V. K. Singh had visited Iraq to coordinate and facilitate the return of the Indians stuck in Iraq.