New Delhi, Jan 22 (PTI) External Affairs Minister SM
Krishna on Sunday instructed Indian Ambassador to Norway RK Tyagi
to speak to Norwegian Foreign Ministry to ensure the release
of two children, who were separated from an NRI couple by the
Norwegian Childcare Services.
The Minister is also likely to speak to his Norwegian
counterpart Jonas Gahr Store tomorrow demanding the release of
the two children, official sources said.
Krishna spoke to Tyagi during the day and asked him to
contact Norwegian Foreign Ministry to ensure the release of
the two children, who were separated from their natural
parents, an NRI couple, by the Norwegian Childcare Services
which placed them under foster care.
The matter has been pursued actively with Norwegian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs after the strong demarches that
were made in Oslo and here on January 5, the sources said.
NRI couple Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya's children
Abhigyan (3) and Aishwarya (1) were taken under protective
care by Barnevarne (Norwegian Child Welfare Services), which
claimed emotional disconnect with the parents, and placed them
in foster parental care according to the local Norwegian
court's directive.
On January 12, 2011, an official of the Indian Embassy in
Oslo visited the foster home where the young children are
staying and ascertained that they were in good health, the MEA
said in a release.
Following the visit, the Embassy reiterated the concerns
of Indian government to the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs that the children were being deprived of the undoubted
benefits of being brought up in their own ethnic, religious
cultural and linguistic milieu.
Hence, the return of the children to India so that they
can be brought up in familiar surroundings under the loving
care of their extended family would be in their best long-term
interests.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, January 22, 2012, 19:10