In a rare instance, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday received fulsome praise from Opposition MPs cutting across party lines. The parliamentarians lauded and thanked her for “rescuing” Indians abroad with the Minister reciprocating with a “thanks for the thanks”.
Answering during the question hour, Sushma had asserted that all Indian nationals employed abroad were taken care by her Ministry and confirmed that Indians held as captives by terrorists in Iraq are alive. She assured the members that the Government was making all efforts to bring them back.
She said that if Indians were stranded, the Government would have brought them long back but they are in the captivity of terrorists.
As MPs, satisfied with her response to problems relating to overseas Indians, also appreciated Sushma’s overall performance as a Minister, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan went on to say, “it is the Minister’s day today.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in the past rated Sushma as one of the best performing Ministers and during last week’s women’s conference described her as a talented woman politician.
BJD and AAP members Bhagwant Mann and Dharamvir Gandhi appreciated Sushma for her efforts, while BJD’s Baijayant Panda said the response from the Ministry has been “outstanding” and there has been a dramatic improvement in this regard.
Besides thumping of desks by members from Treasury benches, Panda and the AAP members appreciated the Minister for helping Indians facing difficulties in foreign countries. Both said Sushma had paid personal attention to the issues raised by them.
The AAP members thanked her for taking speedy action in ensuring the rescue and return of around 19 people, hailing from Punjab, from Saudi Arabia.
Expelled RJD member Rajesh Ranjan too commented positively for her replying to questions in Hindi though he said the Minister had an equally good command over the English language.
Opposition members, including those from the left, were seen thumping benches.
In response, Sushma stood up and with folded hands thanked them for thanking her.
Meanwhile, she confirmed Indians held as captives by terrorists in Iraq are alive. “I completely don’t believe that those people are dead ... If we believed that boy’s version then I would have told this House that all are dead. But we don’t believe the boy’s claim and that is why we are searching for the people,” she said.
Referring to a recent meeting in which Foreign Ministers from Arab countries and 15 Ministers participated, Sushma said the heads of two major nations told me that the Indians were alive.
On another query, Sushma said there has been no “big exodus” of Indians from foreign countries in the wake of steep fall in crude oil prices which has adversely affected job prospects. She was responding to a query on what action the Government plans to take as many companies overseas were sending back Indians amid decline in oil prices, a matter of concern to Kerala that has a large number of NRIs.