Qatar Indians concern Sushma |
India doesn`t foresee any problems for its own relations in the Gulf region after Saudi Arabia and four of its allies cut off diplomatic and other ties with gas-rich Qatar. This is an internal matter of GCC (Gulf Coordination Council). Her only concern is about Indians there. We are trying to find out if any Indians are stuck there," Sushma Swaraj said, steering clear of the Islamic world`s latest implosion. The government`s response is surprising given that at last count there are over 650,000 Indian nationals living and working in Qatar, who outnumber native Qataris by almost 2:1. But it highlights the challenges and diplomatic balancing that India will have to conduct especially as it deepens economic and security relationship with the Gulf Arab states. Qatar`s stock market tanked while there are reports of people queuing up outside grocery stores to stock up if the Saudi blockade gets worse. Earlier, the traffic to Qatar was mainly from Kerala, but now the top source state is UP, followed by Bihar. Qatar came under attack by the Saudi-led grouping of Bahrain, Egypt and UAE, Yemen and surprisingly, Maldives, which cut off diplomatic ties as well as civil aviation and shipping ties days after a Qatar news agency report quoted the Qatar emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani criticizing the growing targeting of Iran by the Sunni alliance.
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