Thiruvananthapuram: A three-member ministerial team from Kerala will leave for Delhi
on March 20 to meet Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to discuss measures for safe
passage of Indians in Kuwait and other Gulf states in the event of US-led war on
Iraq spilling on to the Gulf sector.
The team, comprising Non-Resident Keralite Affairs (NRK) Minister M M Hassan,
Tourism Minister K V Thomas and Public Works Minister Dr M K Muneer, would also meet
Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha and Civil Aviation Minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain,
the ministers told reporters on March 20.
"We will apprise the PM and his colleagues of the anxiety in the minds of lakhs of
families in Kerala about their kith and kin in the Gulf and request to put in place
all arrangements for their evacuation if a need arises," Hassan said.
Information from the Centre as well as the Indian Embassies in the Gulf was that
there was no need for panic as the situation was not as bad as it was during the
1991 Kuwait war.
Also, the Centre had made plans in advance to help the Indian community in the Gulf
if a contingency arose, they said.
Air India had promised to operate special flights to bring Indians before the
closure of airports in the affected countries, Hassan said.
PTI
