JOIN USKrishna said the Indian Embassy in Manama was in constant touch with representatives of the community.
Several people were killed in Manama on Thursday when heavily armed riot police fired upon the agitators protesting against the monarchial rule in the country.|
Krishna, however, declined to comment on the current unrest in the Arab world. “These are internal matters of the countries concerned. But our commitment to democratic aspirations of people continues. We hope these countries will meet the aspirations of their people,” he said.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao in a post on Twitter said India was “concerned about the 3,50,000 Indians in Bahrain”.
“Our ambassador is very alert to this issue and in touch with community reps (representatives),” Rao tweeted. “At this time, understand that our people are safe,” she said.
Answering a question whether planes were being put on standby for evacuation, she tweeted back: “We r (are) geared to deal with situation if it arises. No panic, please!”
Rao confirmed that there was a “standing” invitation to Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to visit India, but no dates had been fixed. “Visit in near future not likely given fluidity of situation,” she said.
External affairs ministry spokesperson Vishnu Prakash added: “India is closely following the developments in Bahrain... We hope that calm soon returns and prevails in Bahrain.”