Melchior, now the chief rabbi of Norway, said: “Religious peace is a way of using another language other than the secular language of the Arab peace plan… religious peace is a way of including those Mullahs who are not yet part of this thinking”.
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At a press conference in Delhi, MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup also confirmed that the governments were now working together to resolve all the four issues relating to the Indian workers, who mainly belonged to the Saudi Oger construction company: food and shelter issues, unpaid wages, transfers to other companies for employment, and possible repatriation to India of those wishing to return.
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has approved an amount of Rs500 million to be distributed among the families of ten thousand stranded Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia.
Israelis hoping for the chance to visit the Gulf state may be able to do so “much sooner than you dream about”, a former Israeli minister said earlier this week.
Nearly 16,000 Indian and Pakistani workers are stuck in Saudi Arabian camps without food and water, or visas to leave the country, after construction companies were forced to cut jobs as oil prices plummeted.
Minister of State for External Affairs General (Retd.) V.K Singh on Saturday arrived in national capital after addressing the problems faced by the Indian workers in Saudi Arabia.
“A Crisis Management Group has also been set up by the ministry of labor to settle all issues related to Indian workers”, Swarup said adding the Ministry of labor will now appoint a lawyer and we will know the exact procedure regarding this in the next 2-3 days.
The Saudi government also agreed to allow transfer of Indian employees, who have lost their jobs, to any other company within Saudi Arabia. “The External Affairs ministry had already handed over the list of people who want to return home and those who want to stay back”, Swarup said.
The rules also restricts foreign workers to leave the country without NoC by the employers.
“Workers who are willing to be transferred to other employers would be transferred without payment of fee or charge and without needing the consent of the current employer”.
As for those workers wishing to return to India, he said the Saudi government has said that it would make the necessary arrangements.
“Swarup said Saudi authorities had also offered to take care of the conditions in which the workers were living in, with special focus on their health and cleanliness”.
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To a question, he said their food supplies would be continued as of now from the same sources, in apparent reference to the Saudi Labour Ministry that is feeding the workers.
