Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing a massive NDA rally in Ernakulam, Kochi on Wednesday (11 March), assured the nation that the government is leaving no stone unturned to ensure the safety and swift return of Indian citizens stranded in the Gulf region as tensions escalate across West Asia.
The assurance carries particular weight for Kerala, which has one of India’s largest Gulf diaspora communities. The conflict in the region escalated after the United States and Israel launched a major military strike on Iran on 28 February, resulting in the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, a strike that has so far claimed at least 1,230 lives in Iran, 397 in Lebanon, and 11 in Israel.
In a grim development announced on the same day, the Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that two Indian nationals were killed and another is missing after merchant vessels were attacked amid the ongoing conflict. Meanwhile, Modi used the Kochi visit to formally launch the BJP-NDA’s ‘Viksit Keralam’ (Developed Kerala) poll campaign ahead of the state assembly elections, taking direct aim at the Congress and Left Democratic Front. The Congress has not withdrawn its criticism of the Centre’s crisis response, even as the government pointed to a significant evacuation effort already under way.
‘India Does Not Abandon Its Citizens’
Addressing the rally in Ernakulam, Modi said: “It’s natural for all of you to be concerned about what’s happening in West Asia today. Millions of our brothers and sisters work there. But you must remember that the BJP-NDA government is in power today. Whenever any of our countrymen has been in trouble, we have used all our strength to protect them. Today’s India doesn’t leave its people in trouble.”
He assured that Indian embassies and missions were working round the clock to provide food, medical aid, shelter, and legal assistance to citizens in need, adding that he was “happy” that Gulf nations were caring for Indian workers and was “grateful” to them. Invoking past rescue operations to underscore his government’s track record, he cited the evacuation of nurses stranded in Iraq and the rescue of Father Tom from militants in Yemen, as well as Father Alexis Premkumar’s safe return from Afghanistan.
On the ground, the scale of the crisis is becoming clearer: the Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that more than 52,000 Indians travelled safely from the Gulf region to India between 1–7 March 2026, with 32,107 of them flying on Indian carriers, and that more flights are being planned in the coming days. A dedicated special control room has also been set up to monitor and respond to queries from those affected.
Workers In Limbo, CM Vijayan Writes To Centre
The humanitarian dimensions of the conflict extend well beyond those already stranded. According to Sureshkumar Madhusudhanan, managing director of Seagull International Group, over the next two months up to 400,000 people working in the Gulf could be impacted including new recruits and those who were travelling to India on a break and will now struggle to return.
Employers in the Gulf have already slowed hiring, with companies adopting a wait-and-watch approach and industry voices warn that if oil facilities and projects remain disrupted, migration from India could also decline. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had written to the Prime Minister on 5 March, ahead of the Kochi visit, urging urgent intervention to resume and increase flights to India including to tier-2 cities and calling for a centralised registration system through Indian Missions to identify and prioritise those needing repatriation.
Modi, however, accused the opposition of using the crisis for electoral gain, alleging that the Congress was making “provocative and irresponsible statements” to worsen the situation and then blame the government, calling it highly unfortunate.
On the political front, the NDA used Modi’s Kochi visit to push its ‘Viksit Keralam’ narrative, with the Union Cabinet having cleared the state’s name change to ‘Keralam’ in 2026 following a unanimous resolution by the Kerala Assembly a move the state government, which had been pushing for the change since 2023, is unlikely to cede credit for.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
Behind the headlines and the political theatre lies a deeply human story: millions of Indian workers, many of them from Kerala, who have left their homes and families to build better lives in the Gulf and who now find themselves caught in a conflict they did not choose and cannot control.
The government’s evacuation of over 52,000 citizens in a single week is a genuine achievement and the diplomatic engagement with Gulf nations deserves acknowledgement. But the deaths of two Indian seafarers in the conflict, the hundreds of thousands of workers now in limbo and the families back home waiting by their phones are reminders that official assurances.
However sincere, must be matched with sustained, transparent, and equitable action one that reaches the daily-wage carpenter from Gorakhpur just as readily as it reaches the business traveller from Bengaluru. It is also worth reflecting that while leaders from across the political spectrum spar over credit and blame, the men and women at the centre of this crisis are largely voiceless.
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