On March 18, an Indian citizen was murdered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this increasing the number of Indian casualties in the ongoing war in West Asia to six. The killings are associated with the growing tensions in the Gulf that occurred after the US-Israeli attacks on Iran. Aseem Mahajan, the Additional Secretary (Gulf) at the Ministry of External Affairs confirmed the news during an inter-ministerial briefing on Friday, in which he said that the death was confirmed later in the night on Thursday.
Mahajan offered condolences and said, we would like to offer our deepest sympathies to the family. In Riyadh, our effort is to work with the local authorities in ensuring that the mortal remains are repatriated in time. He further said, that one of the Indian nationals is still missing in the war-torn area.
The MEA also updated about the rescue and repatriation of Indian nationals. In Iraq, fifteen men on the oil tanker the MT Safesea Vishnu that had been caught and stranded there were also safely rescued and are likely to go back to India, through Saudi Arabia, today.
In the case of air travel, Mahajan observed that the situation at West Asia is slowly changing. The UAE to India flights are being conducted as non-scheduled and about 90 flights are anticipated today. Qatar Airways will also do 10 non-scheduled flights, with 100 flights over Kuwait and Bahrain closed. About 300 000 Indian passengers have been coming back to the warring region since February 28.
The Indian government has been in close touch with the Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iraq and the UAE governments as they seek safe ways of repatriating Indian nationals back home and in support of the families who have been affected by this conflict.
This senseless murder highlights the increasing danger facing the Indian citizens in the wake of the rising tensions in the Gulf and continued aggression.