There was a 'laxity' somewhere: Congress on Iraq issue

Congress today upped its ante against the government on the Iraq issue saying there was a 'laxity' somewhere, even as Government insisted that it was working round the clock to rescue the Indian nationals trapped in that country. Senior Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma said that the Government of India must intensify its efforts for evacuation and return of all its citizens from Iraq.

AICC general secretary Ambika Soni, also a senior leader from Punjab, wondered what kind of monitoring the government was doing that it did not know who had kidnapped the Indians and where they were kept.
"It is very good that the External Affairs Minister is monitoring it but that monitoring should have been done much before because the Ministry of External Affairs does have some kind of information before international events of this magnitude and gravity happen.

"Somewhere some laxity has happened. Somewhere they just slept over it. The government must have got some information. Something must have come to the knowledge of the Ministry of External Affairs earlier," Soni told reporters. In a statement, Sharma said Congress strongly condemns the abductions of Indian workers, which has caused deep distress to the affected families and hoped that the ongoing diplomatic efforts to reach out to the concerned parties and interest groups will succeed in ensuring an early release.

Party leader Mani Shankar Aiyar also took a dig at the government, saying, "The question now is, 'can the successor government do it?'. I don't have much faith in these naive people, who have come to office without experience." He, however, said he has great faith in the Indian Foreign Service. 

"I am sure that our diplomats will succeed to a very large measure in protecting Indian communities that are endangered in (Iraq) as a result of the ongoing conflict there," he said.