No restriction on sending Indian workers to Saudi Arabia: India

Riyadh: India has not put any restrictions on sending workers to Saudi Arabia and the manpower supply system to the Kingdom is very much intact, the Indian embassy here has said.

Earlier, a media report said India had suspended sending workers to the Kingdom, citing a recent directive from the Saudi Ministry of Labour that stipulated that 25 per cent of the total foreign manpower must be housemaids.

"The Indian government has not issued any statement that suspends sending workers to the Kingdom," said Indian Embassy spokesman Hifzur Rahman.

"Any such report is planted and misleading," he was quoted as saying by the Arab News.

Saudi Arabia hosts a 2.8-million-plus Indian community, the largest expatriate group in the country.

Indian expat workers in the Kingdom also constitute the largest number of Indian passport holders living anywhere in the world.