India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday it is coordinating with airlines and tour operators to bring home Indian pilgrims stranded in Saudi Arabia amid the regional security situation, even as it confirmed that one Indian national was killed and two others injured in an attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam. Around 3,000 Umrah pilgrims have already returned home over the past week, the ministry said.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the Indian Embassy in Riyadh and the Consulate General in Jeddah were actively engaging with the concerned airlines and tour operators to facilitate the early return of affected pilgrims. “Over the past week, about 3,000 stranded Umrah pilgrims have travelled from Saudi Arabia back to India on available flights. This is in addition to more than 10,000 normal Umrah pilgrims who were booked on the available flights and have travelled back to India over the past week,” Jaiswal said in a post on X.
He added that arrangements were being discussed to facilitate the return of the remaining Umrah pilgrims at the earliest. According to the spokesperson, the embassy and consulate, with support from community volunteers, are extending all possible welfare assistance, and 24×7 control rooms have been established to help Indian nationals, with regular advisories being issued.
The MEA’s assurance came after AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi urged the Centre to intervene, claiming that around 4,000 Indian pilgrims were stranded in Makkah and Madina after airlines suspended flights to Saudi cities owing to the security situation in the region. In a thread on X, Owaisi tagged several airlines and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), urging the regulator to allow carriers to deploy larger aircraft to bring the pilgrims back, and called for dedicated flights if expanded capacity could not be arranged. “The Indian pilgrims have been abandoned by their travel agents. This needs your urgent intervention; in the meanwhile, necessary support must be provided to the stranded pilgrims,” he wrote, also tagging External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.
Makkah and Madina are two of the holiest sites in Islam, and followers undertake pilgrimage to the two cities as part of Haj once a year, or as Umrah pilgrims at any time of the year.
Sharing contact details for the control rooms, Jaiswal said the Embassy of India in Riyadh can be reached at +966-554412016 and +966-542126784, toll-free at 8002471234 (calls from within Saudi Arabia only) and on WhatsApp at +966-536216082 (messages only). The Consulate General of India in Jeddah can be contacted at +966-12-2614093 and +966-556122301, and on WhatsApp at +966-536209704 (messages only).
Original Source: https://www.firstpost.com/india/india-steps-up-efforts-to-bring-back-stranded-umrah-pilgrims-from-saudi-arabia-mea-14054684.html
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Publish Date: 2026-10-22 20:07:00
