Meet to plan evacuation of indians from Iraq

New Delhi: The National Crisis Management Committee headed by the cabinet secretary met on Friday to examine evacuation plans for Indians stranded in Iraq.

IAF C-130J Super Hercules aircraft are on standby and special forces teams are in readiness, though the Centre doesn’t want to engage in any armed operation. Some assets are possibly already stationed in countries bordering Iraq, sources said.

Security sources said the government was trying to set up a safe transit corridor for Indians stuck in areas under the control of jihadi outfit ISIL. The final destination of the corridor is likely to be northern Iraq’s Kurdistan region, which officials noted was largely peaceful and had functional airports where rescue planes could land and operate.

The real challenge now was to locate all affected Indians and arrange their safe passage to this zone.
To take forward the plan of safe evacuation, former Ambassador to Iraq Suresh Reddy, who has now been placed as a special envoy to held secure the free passage of Indians, is said to be in talks with the Kurdish leadership.

While cooperation is coming from the Kurdish side, the problem is to locate all the Indians and arrange their safe passage.