Congress leader Pawan Khera on Monday highlighted a decision by Saudi Arabia to cancel work visas for citizens of 14 countries including India, which was announced two months ago, to argue that India has turned lonely abroad under Narendra Modi.
“This dispensation’s so called muscular foreign policy has collapsed under its own PR. India is loud at home but lonely abroad,” Khera wrote on his X handle. “Saudi Arabia suspending visas for 14 countries, including India, is just the latest blow in a steady collapse of India’s foreign policy under Modi.”
The attack came on the day the BJP went all guns blazing to celebrate Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 11 years in power.
Khera rolled out a list of events to highlight what he called India’s crumbling standing in the global community.
“China blocked naming the attackers at the UN. Pakistan won the backing from China, Russia, Iran, Turkey and Malaysia, all demanding a “fair probe”,” Khera wrote.
He said that the G7 excluded India over Canada-Khalistan fallout – though Modi has been now invited at the last moment– claimed that the G20 saw no breakthrough, the Maldives turned hostile with a pro-China pivot to keep India out and along with Malaysia leased out strategic assets to Beijing, Nepal redrew its map to claim Indian territory, the OIC and West Asia keeps attacking India over Kashmir and Muslim rights.
Khera said the SCO and BRICS have turned into Chinese mouthpieces, while Russia has signed military and energy deal with Pakistan.
“Meanwhile, Pakistan despite economic collapse, bags $20billion from World Bank, $1billion from IMF, $800million from ADB, tightens ties with Russia, and hijacks the Kashmir narrative,” said Khera. “Turkey even sent a warship in its support. Iran offered to mediate. Qatar, Kuwait and Malaysia echoed Islamabad’s line,” he wrote.
Qiwa, the provision for applying under the pre-approved block work visas that allowed Saudi Arabian companies to recruit a select number of foreign workers, was removed from the kingdom’s website on labour management.
The ban is expected to last till June-end, though there is no clear timeline and the ban could continue beyond June.
Along with India, the other countries included its sub-continental neighbour Bangladesh as well as Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Yemen, Sudan, Iraq, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Libya, Kenya and Turkey.
The decision was apparently taken before the Hajj pilgrimage amid concerns over management of pilgrims. There were incidents of people entering Saudi Arabia on work visas and going for Hajj, which took a toll on the management of the pilgrimage, adding pressure on the facilities because of overcrowding.