External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj clarified that the 39 missing Indian construction workers in Mosul, Iraq cannot be declared dead without proof, but provided little information as to whether they were alive, after being accused of misleading the nation.

Calling it a "sin" to declare someone dead without evidence, she said the Embassy did not get information of "mass killing" and thus, is searching for the "missing Indians". She quoted one man who said he was the only one of 40 Indians captured and killed by the Islamic State, but there were more sources that said the contrary. Swaraj met with the families of the missing persons, assuring them they might be in a prison in Badush, Mosul. But reports suggest the prison is in ruins after collision between Iraqi and Islamic State forces.