Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj called a press briefing in the afternoon on Tuesday, 20 March, to tell the nation that the 39 Indians who went missing in Mosul, Iraq in 2014 have been confirmed dead.

Castigating the Opposition for not maintaining respectful silence when she was attempting to announce the news in the Lok Sabha after having done so in the Rajya Sabha, Swaraj finally got to the point – that the 39 Indians had been confirmed dead through DNA evidence obtained from remains found in a mass grave in Badush, Iraq.