<p>Menon is slated to travel to Teheran next month for discussions with his counterpart there, sources said adding further plans are being worked out for visit to some countries in the Gulf and the Middle East.<br /><br />They India is watching with concern the situation in Libya where 18,000 Indians are said to be resident and efforts were being made to repatriate them to safety. Apart from sending naval ships and Air India aircraft, India is also trying to charter ferries from Greece to bring its national out to safety. The naval ship "Jalashwa" it plans to send will take at least 10 days to reach any point near Libya, the sources said.<br /><br />In the end, all the Indian nationals may not not be brought back home but could be taken to safe places in neighbouring countries because that would make some sense, the sources said. The sources said government was watching the situation in Libya with concern but would not not like to go public with its views in the interst of the safety of its nationals.<br /><br />The foreign office has noted that countries in the West and groupings like European Union were thinking of moving the UN Security Council for slapping sanctions on Libya and freezing bank accounts of President Muammar Gaddafi and his family members.<br /><br />India has not not taken any position on the issue keeping in view the interest of its nationals living there and also in view of the fact that it has had a "decent relationship" with Tripoli all along. Apart from Libya, Indians living in other trouble spots<br /><br />in the region include 3,50,000 in Baharain and 14,000 in Yemen. New Delhi views the situation developing in the Arab world as very unfavourable to it because trouble was mounting for those who are dependent on countries like the US.<br /><br />The worst is the position for a country like Israel in the midst of all trouble and senior Indian officials had conveyed to Israelis that this was the best time for it to give back Golan Heights to Syria as a goodwill gesture for the region.<br /><br />Though a senior Israeli official acknowledged the weight of Indian counsel, his government was not not actually in a position to do it in view of its historic compulsions.</p>
<p>Menon is slated to travel to Teheran next month for discussions with his counterpart there, sources said adding further plans are being worked out for visit to some countries in the Gulf and the Middle East.<br /><br />They India is watching with concern the situation in Libya where 18,000 Indians are said to be resident and efforts were being made to repatriate them to safety. Apart from sending naval ships and Air India aircraft, India is also trying to charter ferries from Greece to bring its national out to safety. The naval ship "Jalashwa" it plans to send will take at least 10 days to reach any point near Libya, the sources said.<br /><br />In the end, all the Indian nationals may not not be brought back home but could be taken to safe places in neighbouring countries because that would make some sense, the sources said. The sources said government was watching the situation in Libya with concern but would not not like to go public with its views in the interst of the safety of its nationals.<br /><br />The foreign office has noted that countries in the West and groupings like European Union were thinking of moving the UN Security Council for slapping sanctions on Libya and freezing bank accounts of President Muammar Gaddafi and his family members.<br /><br />India has not not taken any position on the issue keeping in view the interest of its nationals living there and also in view of the fact that it has had a "decent relationship" with Tripoli all along. Apart from Libya, Indians living in other trouble spots<br /><br />in the region include 3,50,000 in Baharain and 14,000 in Yemen. New Delhi views the situation developing in the Arab world as very unfavourable to it because trouble was mounting for those who are dependent on countries like the US.<br /><br />The worst is the position for a country like Israel in the midst of all trouble and senior Indian officials had conveyed to Israelis that this was the best time for it to give back Golan Heights to Syria as a goodwill gesture for the region.<br /><br />Though a senior Israeli official acknowledged the weight of Indian counsel, his government was not not actually in a position to do it in view of its historic compulsions.</p>