By Ayushi Agarwal
New Delhi [Delhi], April 14 : In the middle of a raging Gaza conflict and escalating tensions between Israel and Iran due to recent attacks, the question of the safety and security of Indian construction workers looms large. Israeli envoy to India Naor Gilon, during an interview with ANI, emphasised that these workers 'will be as safe as the Israeli population' since his country treats Indian workers as part of the Israeli population.
Addressing concerns about the safety and security of the Indian workers, Gilon underlined that Israel is doing its maximum to protect everyone in Israel and that the workers are no different from other Israeli citizens.
"The workers are no different than other Israelis. As you saw last night, there was a huge effort by Israel, and we were able to protect our civilians, which we will do in the future. Since we treat Indian workers as part of the Israeli population, they will be as safe as the Israeli population. We are doing maximum to protect everyone in Israel", said Ambassador Gilon here on Sunday.
Earlier this month, Israeli envoy to India Naor Gilon said that the first batch of over 60 Indian construction workers is going to Israel and he hoped that the workers would become 'ambassadors' of the great people-to-people relations between the two countries.
"Today we had a farewell event from the first batch of 60+ Indian construction workers going to Israel under the G2G agreement. This is an outcome of the hard work of many, including @NSDCINDIA," Gilon said.
"I'm sure that the workers will become 'ambassadors' of the great P2P relations between India and Israel," he said.
While speaking on the same, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Randhir Jaiswal in a weekly media briefing said,'We are conscious of their (Indian workers) safety and have urged the Israeli authorities to ensure their safety and well-being'.
The response of the MEA came two days after Israel's Ambassador to India posted on 'X' a picture of the first batch of Indian workers who were to leave for Israel.
The question of the safety of the Indian workers comes after there was an escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran to which India had expressed concern.
"We call for immediate de-escalation, exercise of restraint, stepping back from violence and return to the path of diplomacy. We are closely monitoring the evolving situation. Our Embassies in the region are in close touch with Indian community. It is vital that security and stability are maintained in the region," the ministry has said in its statement.
Meanwhile India on Friday issued an advisory, warning its citizens against travelling to Iran and Israel due to escalating tensions between the two West Asian nations.
Speaking on the latest attack by Iran against Israel, Ambassador Gilon said that Iran is the financer, trainer of Hamas and has been fighting a proxy war with Israel. Gilon further said that Iran has fired nearly 331 rockets of different kinds since Yesterday, but the Israeli forces have successfully intercepted 99 per cent of them.
Iran launched a missile attack on Israel as part of its retaliation to a suspected Israeli air strike on its consulate in Damascus on April 1.
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