New Delhi: With thousands of Indians looking for jobs in Israel notwithstanding the ongoing conflict in Gaza, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said it is conscious of its responsibility to ensure safety of Indian citizens abroad.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India concluded a labour mobility pact with Israel much before the Israel-Hamas conflict began last year. "We have mobility pacts with several countries across the world and we have an agreement now with Israel as well," Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing.
"The idea behind this agreement was that we put in place an institutional mechanism which regulates migration to that country," he added. Jaiswal said large number of Indians are already employed in Israel, especially in the healthcare sector.
"We already have a large number of people, especially in the care-giving sector in Israel, and through this agreement, we want to ensure that there is regulated migration and the rights of people who go there are protected," he said. Asked about the safety of the Indians looking for jobs in Israel as the security situation in that country is perceived to be precarious in view of the conflict in Gaza, Jaiswal said: "We are very conscious of our responsibility to ensure security and safety of our people who are abroad." He also said that labour laws in Israel are very strict and robust.
"It is an OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) country. Therefore, labour laws are such that they provide for protection of labour rights," the MEA spokesperson said. To a question on Taiwan electing Lai Ching-te as its next president, he said, "We have taken note of the recent developments in Taiwan. India has strong people-to-people, cultural, educational and investment links with Taiwan." "The government of India facilitates these and look forward to continuing them for shared prosperity and development," he added.
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