Government concerned about evacuation of jobless Indians in Gulf: MEA

Sandeep Dikshit

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 30

The evacuation of tens of thousands of jobless Indians in the Gulf is receiving the attention of the government, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said here on Thursday.

Reports say the MEA has asked the Ministry of Defence to keep on stand-by some of its troop landing and transport ships as well as heavy lift military transport.

The situation in some parts of the Gulf has become dire for the Indians after several of them were fired from their jobs. Expatriates have mentioned that local Indian missions have started collecting data on those willing to return to India.

MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastav said the matter was receiving the attention of the Government but declined to go into the specifics. It would be “premature to spell out plans” as consultations and discussions are underway at the highest levels, he said.

The MEA acknowledged that in the current situation, Indians stranded all over the world would wish to return and were undergoing inconvenience.

The MEA said the social media storm in the Arab world over the Indian media’s targeting of Tablighi Jamaat should not be the sole yardstick to judge India’s relationship with the Gulf countries.

The Prime Minister and the External Affairs Minister have spoken to their counterparts of almost all the Gulf countries during which there were requests for medicines and medical teams, the MEA mentioned.

In addition, the Gulf leadership also appreciated India maintaining the uninterrupted supply of food and medicines during the Ramzan period. Some of them also wanted to remain connected with India on the post-COVID economic revival approach, Srivastav said at a virtual briefing for journalists.

The MEA also gave a lowdown of the MEA’s key role in an Empowered Group set up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to source medical supplies and equipment as well as meet requests for supplies of medicines from abroad.

The MEA has ensured the dispatch of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and paracetamol tablets to over two dozen countries besides commercial sales to another 87.

Rapid response teams comprising doctors, nurses and paramedical staff were dispatched to Maldives and Kuwait to help train and instill best practices in their health staff on the various aspects of dealing with the pandemic.