It is expected that more Indians are expected to move to the Gulf region and especially to UAE in upcoming years according to Sanjay Bhattacharyya, secretary in charge of the Gulf, overseas Indians, and consular affairs in the country’s Ministry of External Affairs.

Bhattacharyya on Wednesday was speaking at LEADS 2021, a two-day global thought leadership platform held in New Delhi. The region has become more attractive for Indians after several agreements were signed with various GCC countries he informed.

The Indian diplomat said the UAE has become a model of “transparency” as it fully clarifies employment clauses to potential candidates.“The integration of online migration platforms, which began with the UAE and Saudi Arabia, has been extended to other GCC countries,” he stated.

“Skill mapping and skill matching can be captured on such migration platforms to leverage advantages for our workers in a changing environment.”

Bhattacharyya said there was strong demand for candidates in health, logistics, information technology, and new industries in the Gulf.“High-tech and data services have seen a boom,” he said.

It is to be noted that in 2018, the UAE and India signed an MoU to integrate their labour-related e-platforms to end the existing malpractices, combating trafficking, and organising programmes for education and awareness of contractual workers.

The pandemic hit badly the Indian community of about 3.4 million people when businesses shut down in March 2020 during stay-home restrictions.

Estimated 1.3 million Indians left the Emirates between May 2020 and the beginning of January 2021, but more than 1.15 million returned, V Muraleedharan, Indian Minister of State for External Affairs had stated earlier this year. The figures were based on flight data at that time, Muraleedharan had said.

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