Even as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the rift between Gulf States would have no impact on India, the Prime Minister Office (PMO) has asked the different ministries including Civil Aviation, and Petroleum & Natural Gas to be ready for any eventuality emanating from the biggest diplomatic crisis in the Gulf since the 1991 war against Iraq.
The crisis started off with Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE severing ties with Qatar on Monday, accusing it of supporting regional terror groups and Iran. They also cut off land, sea and air routes to the energy-rich nation. Yemen and the Maldives joined the ban later.
"We have not yet received any request from Indians for evacuation. We hope Indians won't get trapped in the current situation. But if there is any eventuality, we are keeping our plans ready," said a senior official. He expressed hope that the stand-off may fizzle out soon, in the wake of many players in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) mediating between the Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Qatar may not be a major oil producer, but India source most of its LNG needs from this country. So far, the imports have not been affected, officials here said. "The feedback from our workers and our shipping consortium is that the route is clean and clear. As of today, there is no issue," said Petronet LNG Ltd's managing director Prabhat Singh. Qatar has also officially informed India that the LNG supply to India will remain uninterrupted.
The Gulf crises has mostly raised concerns in southern states. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Leader of Opposition in Tamil Nadu MK Stalin sought out the Central government's intervention to ensure the safety of Indians living in Qatar. Stalin also wrote to Swaraj in this regard.
There are 6,00,000 Indian workers in Qatar, many of them on projects related to the 2022 FIFA world cup. According to an estimate last year, they sent home about $63 billion. After PM Modi's visits in the region, India had hoped for considerable investments from both the UAE and Qatar's Sovereign Wealth Funds.
What has unnerved business community and travellers is that the Saudi coalition has also decided to cancel Qatar Airways flights to their countries. Many flights originating from India use Doha as a hub to get to other destinations in the Gulf.
FACTFILE
- 6.5 lakh Indians are in Qatar, the largest expatriate community in this region.
- 65% of India's LNG imports come from the Gulf Nation
- Indian exports to Qatar grew to almost $1 billion in the last two years.
- Qatar Airways flies about 24,000 passengers a week from India.
...& ANALYSIS
- The immediate worry for India is the impact on airline travel after organisations like Emirates closed down all flight services to and from Doha
- The crisis has a silver lining as well as Indians could fill the jobs vacated by the citizens of these 6 Arab nations that have imposed a ban on Qatar
LONGER FLIGHTS
Passengers flying on Indian carriers to Qatar will face increased travel hours as airlines have been forced to take longer routes over Pakistan and Iran, amid airspace curbs in the Gulf region. Jet Airways, Air India Express and IndiGo are now operating flights to Qatar's capital Doha through Pakistan and Iran airspace following restrictions imposed by the UAE.
Apart from longer flying hours, the airlines would see a spike in costs for operating these flights due to higher fuel burn and the need for having additional human resources.
As per official data, little over 28 lakh passengers flew to and from Indian cities and Doha in 2016. Air India Express CEO K Shyam Sundar said its flights to Doha have started taking the alternative route following restrictions in the UAE airspace.
"The duration of our flights to Doha will increase by an hour and a half or so in either direction. We will have to avoid the UAE airspace and fly over Pakistan and Iran instead," Sundar said.
For the time being, Sundar said Air India Express is not thinking of revising fares for the Doha flights. – PTI
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