Krishna welcomes end of Norway custody row

New Delhi, Apr 24 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Tuesday welcomed a Norway court's decision to allow two Indian kids to return home in the company of their paternal uncle.

"I am delighted to welcome back the two children... they belong to India, they are Indian nationals. I am confident that their uncle will take care of them. I thank the Government of Norway, and in particular, the Foreign Minister, for his constructive approach. All is well that ends well," said Krishna.

The kids - Abhigyan and Aishwarya-arrived here this morning and were received by their maternal grandparents.

On Monday, a Norwegian court had handed over the two NRI children in foster care to their paternal uncle, ending months of a custody row that saw India stepping up diplomatic pressure on Norway to send the kids back.

Norway's Children Welfare Service (CWS), which had kept the children in foster care since May last year, made a recommendation to the Stavanger District court that the children's custody should be given to the uncle and that they should be allowed to return to India.

Three-year-old Abhigyan and one-year-old Aishwarya have been placed in the care of two different foster families in Norway. The Norwegian authorities have said the children were taken away, as their parents, Sagarika and Anurup, were not taking proper care of them. he parents, however, claimed that the authorities took exception to the cultural differences such as sleeping with the children and breastfeeding the daughter at scheduled times, as opposed to when she cried. (ANI)