Dubai — The Indian embassy in Bahrain will soon have a brand new building and more staff to handle increased workload.
India’s Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed, who made a one-hour stop in Bahrain on his way to Kuwait, said extra staff would be deputed to the mission after Indian Ambassador Balkrishna Shetty reported a staff crunch.
“We have similar requests from our missions in other Gulf countries as well,” Ahamed said.
“This was one of the recommendations made by Indian ambassadors in the Gulf who participated in a meeting called by me and Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi in Doha earlier this year,” he said.
Preliminary work has already started on a new Indian embassy building in Bahrain, reports the Gulf Daily News.
Five Bahraini consultants have been asked to submit designs for the new building.
“I am happy to see that the embassy is attending to problems faced by expatriate Indian workers on a day-to-day basis and trying to solve them with the cooperation and assistance of various government departments in Bahrain,” the minister said.
“There has been no increase in the number of staff at the embassy here for several years despite a considerable increase in the Indian population. I shall make every effort to ensure that staff shortage does not affect the services provided by our missions in Bahrain and other Gulf countries,” he added.
Bahrain, which presently has a consulate in Mumbai, has also decided to upgrade its diplomatic status in India and the crown prince is expected to inaugurate the new Bahrain embassy in New Delhi during his official visit to India in December.