'Top priority to issues concerning persecuted minorities in neighbourhood'

India said on Thursday that it has accorded top priority to the issues of persecuted minorities in the neighbourhood and has taken measures to improve their condition.

It also said that all efforts were being made for safe release of seven Indians abducted in Afghanistan.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told the media that a delegation of Sikhs, including some relatives of those killed in a suicide attack in Afghanistan earlier this month, had met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and raised their concerns about security situation in the country.

He said the government had strongly condemned the attack that killed 13 members of Afghan Sikh community.

"We heard them out. They had certain concerns about the security situation in the country. The government has accorded top priority to the issues of persecuted minorities in the neighbourhood and we have taken up this matter with them. We have taken measures to alleviate their condition," he said.

He said the delegation, which also had Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) members, made certain requests that fall in the domain of Home Ministry and were told to raise them with the authorities concerned.

Answering another query on the seven Indians abducted in Afghanistan, Kumar said he had said multiple times that the government was trying its best.

"We are engaged with all parties who could be of help in this matter. The Minister herself is monitoring the situation very closely. We do not want to divulge too much details on this forum. It is a sensitive matter and it involves the lives of people who have been abducted," he said.

Seven Indians working with Indian power company KEC International were abducted by suspected Taliban gunmen in northern Baghlan province of Afghanistan in May.

--IANS

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