External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday met families of the 39 Indians who were taken hostage by the Islamic State militant group from a construction site in Mosul in June 2014, reported PTI. The Union minister assured the families that the Indian government was “fully and continuously engaged” and “every possible effort” was being made to ensure release of the men.

During the ninth such meeting since the abduction, Swaraj told the families that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has informed her that the “Indians are alive and made to work” in war-torn Iraq. The minister also said that a declaration was adopted during the first India-Arab League Cooperation Forum held in Bahrain on January 23, which said, "The two sides expressed concern at the kidnapping of 39 Indian workers in Mosul in Iraq in June 2014 and 3 Indian workers in Sirte in Libya in June 2015. The Arab side expressed full solidarity with India in all efforts for their early release from captivity."