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President
heads to Gulf, to launch helpline for Indian expats
Friday November 19, 2010 09:04:43 PM,
IANS
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New Delhi:
India is set to boost its multi-faceted ties with the Gulf region
when President Pratibha Patil goes Sunday to the United Arab
Emirates, where she will launch a 24-hour helpline for its
expatriate population, and also visit Syria.
The Gulf region is home to over 5 million-strong Indian diaspora.
In the United Arab Emirates, the first leg of her two-nation
nine-day tour, Patil will launch an Indian Workers Resource
Centre, which is designed to provide a 24-hour helpline and
counselling services to workers from the country who are in
distress.
An initiative of the ministry of overseas affairs, the centre has
been established after complaints from many expatriate workers
about various issues relating to their living and working
conditions. The UAE is home to nearly 1.75 million Indian
community.
"They very often do run into problems with their contracts and
they need to contact the embassy in a hurry. They may be in
distress, they may have injuries, they may need to be repatriated
urgently, they may have a problem with the employer," Latha Reddy,
Secretary (East) in the external affairs ministry, told reporters
while briefing them on the presidential visit.
Reddy said the 24-hour helpline was needed so that the Indian
workers could call at any time and added that funds will be made
available for those in distress.
The MOIA will also be organising a meeting here of the Heads of
Missions in the Gulf region by end of this month to address issues
relating to the welfare of workers.
Patil is visiting the UAE at the invitation of its President
Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Besides the president, she
will be meeting top leaders in that country and discuss ways to
expand economic and energy ties with the Gulf country. Apart from
Abu Dhabi, she would travel to Dubai and Sharjah.
Indo-UAE trade, which stood at US$ 180 million per annum in the
1970s, was valued at US$ 43.4 billion in 2009-2010. UAE emerged as
the top destination for India's export with 13.41 percent share of
exports in year 2009-10. UAE also ranks among the top five
suppliers of crude oil to India.
Patil heads to Syria Nov 26, the first presidential visit to that
country from India. She will hold delegation-level talks with
President Bashar Al Assad. "Both sides will also explore
investment opportunities in each other's country," Reddy said.
She added that regional issues like the Middle East Peace Process
(MEPP) and Syria's relations with its neighbours will also figure
in discussions.
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