As 46 Indian nurses, including six from Tamil Nadu, are stranded in a hospital in strife-torn Iraq, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to personally intervene in the issue and ensure their safe return home.
In a letter to Modi, she said "these nurses are innocent bystanders, rendering valuable service to the health system of Iraq. India and the international community at large are duty- bound to ensure their safety and to provide them a safe passage back to their homeland."
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has also written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking Central help for bringing back the Keralites stranded in strife-torn Iraq, according to KC Joseph, State Minister for Non-Resident Keralites’ Affairs.
Chandy has asked the Centre to arrange a special Air India aircraft to bring the Malayalees in Iraq back and to bear the expenses for that. The State Government would bear the expenses if the Centre was unable to do this, he said in the letter. Sources said that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had been in touch with Chandy with regards to the matter.