PremiumIndia has raised the issue of easing of travel restrictions imposed by Gulf countries on its nationals at the ministerial and official levels in recent weeks given the improvement in covid-19 infections in the country, Indian foreign ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said.
“We have been taking up this issue with foreign partners wherever possible,’ Bagchi told reporters when asked about stranded Indian expatriates in the country.
“Recently, External Affairs Minister (S Jaishankar) and Minister of State (V Muraleedharan) held a meeting with our Ambassadors in Gulf countries, where our Ambassadors were requested to take up with their host countries the issue of resumption of flights with India," he said.
Minister Jaishankar also raised “this issue during bilateral meetings on the margins of the recently held G-20 ministerial meeting in Italy," he said referring to Jaishankar’s trip at the end of last month.
“Foreign Secretary (Harsh Vardhan Shringla) has also raised with his counterparts the issue of normalization of travel and mobility of students, professionals and enabling family reunions," Bagchi said.
India had about 9 million people living and working in the Gulf in pre pandemic times, many of whom returned to the country last year when the first wave of the pandemic hit the world.
Some of them returned to the region thanks to air bubbles put in place by the Indian government and countries like the UAE. But air links were snapped earlier this year after India witnessed a second brutal wave of the pandemic triggered by the more virulent Delta variant of the SARSCoV2. Countries in the Gulf region are yet to restart flights to India despite the number of daily cases of covid-19 falling rapidly.
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