Iraq has thanked India for medical support to its forces fighting the Islamic State in Mosul. Iraqi ambassador Fakhri Hassan Mahdi Al-Issa told The Hindu that the country’s Defence Ministry has been sending injured soldiers and volunteers of National Mobilisation from the battlefield to India for treatment.
“As of now we are sending soldiers to a major hospital in the National Capital Region as the Iraqi Defence Ministry has entered into an agreement with the hospital. We also have other hospitals in the network and have sent cadre of Popular Mobilisation in the recent past”, said Mr. Al-Issa. He also disclosed that Iraq has flown Indian doctors to Baghdad and Karbala to handle patients who needed emergency treatment.
The campaign to free Mosul was launched in January to free the city from the control of the IS.
One of the biggest cities of Iraq, Mosul fell to the IS in June 2014.
The envoy clarified that injured soldiers have been arriving in Delhi for several months now as the campaign intensified. Iraqi forces and the Popular Mobilisation have now entered the city where street-fighting is raging.
“We shall continue to require medical support from Indian establishments as the coming weeks are going to be difficult,” he said.
Artemis Hospital, Gurgaon, one of the major institutions where the soldiers are being treated, said it has treated 450 Iraqi soldiers so far, including those from the National Mobilisation which was constituted to fight the IS.
“We entered into an agreement with the Defence Ministry of Iraq in 2014 and ever since have been treating the soldiers,” said a representative of the hospital.
Better ties ::
The envoy said ties with India have been ramped up after the Iraqi forces launched the offensive against the IS.
Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar visited Iraq in September to hold discussions with the leadership in Baghdad. Reciprocating Mr. Akbar’s visit, Iraq will be sending Foreign Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafari and Petroleum Minister Jabbar Ali Al-Luaibi to India shortly, the envoy said.
source- http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...d&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS_Syndication
