NEW DELHI: India has lost 22 nationals, including 14 seafarers, in the ongoing West Asia conflict, the ministry of external Affairs (MEA) said on Wednesday.According to MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, three Indians had been killed in Saudi Arabia.“We are deeply concerned about the ongoing conflict in West Asia. We have lost 22 Indian nationals in the conflict, including 14 seafarers. We remain in close touch with our community in the Gulf region for their safety and wellbeing. Three Indians have lost their lives in Saudi Arabia,” Jaiswal told reporters at a regular briefing in New Delhi.The war began on February 28, following US and Israeli strikes on Iran. India has consistently called for a resolution through dialogue and diplomacy.Tensions have escalated in recent days after Yemen-based Houthi rebels launched strikes on Saudi Arabia, opening another front in the eight-month-long conflict. Saudi Arabia is also among the Gulf states targeted by Iran for hosting US military bases.
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India has expressed serious concern over Houthi attacks on the Kingdom’s civilian infrastructure and economic assets, warning that such strikes threaten regional stability and freedom of navigation through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait.The Iran-backed Houthis also attacked Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline, a key route for crude exports that has become increasingly important since the conflict disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been under a virtual Iranian blockade since March.The Houthi attacks have raised further concerns over the safety of the Bab-el-Mandeb, a strategic maritime chokepoint between the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea.(With PTI inputs)