By Arvind Padmanabhan
IANS
Berlin : Nigeria has assured India that it will take all steps to ensure the safe return of 12 Indian workers abducted in the African country and said economic ties between the two countries, especially in energy, will be strengthened.
The assurance came when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called on newly elected Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua here Thursday, ahead of the G8 Outreach Summit at the Baltic resort of Heiligendamm Friday.
"They are safe and that much we know," Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said, referring to the 12 abducted Indians while briefing the media delegation on the outcome of Manmohan Singh's meeting with Yar'Adua.
"The Nigerian president assured our PM (prime minister) they would do everything possible to ensure their safe and speedy return," he said.
Ten Indians were abducted June 1 from the oil city of Port Harcourt where they were working for an Indonesia-based company Indorama. Two others, working for the same company in Port Harcourt, were kidnapped earlier on May 19.
New Delhi has already issued a security advisory to all Indians working in Nigeria to take adequate precautions about their security.
Referring to other areas discussed at the meeting, Menon said while Nigeria was an important source for hydrocarbons, India was training some 1,000 officials each year, even as 15,000 Africans, including those from Nigeria, were studying in India.
"Nigeria is a very important partner for us in Africa. In terms of energy, a substantial proportion of the crude oil that we import, either directly or indirectly – almost 20 percent actually, is from Nigeria," he said.