Three nuns from the Mother Teresa-founded Missionaries of Charity are among about 30 Indians who have refused to leave Iraq in the event of war, an Indian foreign ministry spokesman said Monday.
Eight other Indian charity workers, four students and 14 other officials also have decided to stay on, Navtej Sarna said as India evacuated its ambassador and diplomats from Iraq. The 14 officials are engaged in ventures supporting Iraq's Food-for-Oil program, Sarna told reporters.
"These people have decided to stay on their own volition," he said.
Sarna said India's ambassador in Iraq, B.B. Tyagi, and his skeleton staff moved to Jordan's capital, Amman, on Monday. The Indian Embassy's premises in Baghdad will be looked after by its Iraqi staff, he said.
"We are in Jordan temporarily until the situation improves," Tyagi said hours after arriving in Amman.
Also Monday, the Indian government set up a crisis management group to monitor developments in the Middle East, Sarna said.
Safety of Indian workers in the Gulf and measures to tide over oil price volatility would be among the top concerns of the group, headed by a senior foreign ministry official, he said.
Some 3.5 million Indians are employed in the Middle East, of which more than one-tenth are in Kuwait.