When asked by Arab News if there are any evacuation plans set for the Indians in Bahrain, Krishna would not speculate, “but for the moment we are closely monitoring the situation. The troubles in Bahrain do not warrant any immediate action.”

He stressed that the Indian community in the Kingdom, and elsewhere, have gone there for the sole purpose of working.

Addressing a press conference at the Trident Hotel, the minister said: “The region is going through upheavals, but you have come here with a purpose and, in your role as goodwill ambassadors, should continue to work for stronger Indo-Saudi relations,” he said.

Krishna, accompanied by Mohsina Kidwai, chairperson of the Haj Committee of India (HCI), and India's Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad and Consul General Sayeed Ahmed Baba, later met with Haj Minister Fouad Al-Farsi and discussed housing and other arrangements for this year's annual pilgrimage and also sought an increase in the Haj quota for Indian pilgrims.

The ambassador pointed out that this was the first time in the history of bilateral relations that the federal external affairs minister had personally come to the Kingdom to discuss Haj.

“This emphasizes the importance the government is giving to this year's Haj,” he added.

Indian pilgrims constitute the second largest overseas Haj contingents, after Indonesia. Last year, 171,000 Indian pilgrims — 126,000 who came through the HCI and 45,000 others through private tour operators — performed Haj.

“We are giving utmost importance to housing arrangements, but since a lot of demolition work is going on around the holy sites in Makkah our pilgrims would be handicapped as their housing would be away from the Kaaba and thus would have to depend on transportation,” the minister said.

“We have also decided that the pilgrims coming especially through the HCI will carry standard-size baggage — a decision that was taken five or six years ago but being implemented this year,” he said.

“The bags would be provided by the HCI to the pilgrims, and it would be the size that would enable the pilgrims to carry the allowed limit of 45 kgs,” interjected Kidwai.

About providing air transport to the pilgrims, the minister said it was not yet decided whether Air India would take part. “Last year, India's national carrier did not take part due to its internal problems and instead three Saudi carriers which had won the bids assumed the responsibility.”

Regarding Indo-Lankan relationship in the post LTTE era, Krishna said ties between the two nations are cordial. Previously, the minister, during his visit to Colombo late last year, had called for a “meaningful” devolution package for Tamils and then took a tough line early this year by telling Colombo that the use of force against fishermen could upset ties. The comments referred to incidents where the Lankan Navy had killed two Indian fishermen.

He also referred to the historic visit by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the Kingdom last year as a sign of growing relations between India and Saudi Arabia. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Singh signed the Riyadh Declaration during the Indian premier's visit that raised bilateral cooperation to a strategic partnership. “Today those relations are getting stronger and stronger,” Krishna said at a meeting with Indians from various strata of the work force and business.

Extolling India's newfound primacy among nations, Krishna said the series of visits by overseas leaders to India — from the US, the UK, France and other countries recently — indicates that the country has taken center stage in global affairs.

“It is no surprise that India's candidature to the UN Security Council was supported by these friends of ours and we won a seat in the council unanimously,” he said.

Community groups later presented petitions to Krishna, with many of them seeking his intervention in reducing the 40 percent fee increase announced by International Indian School-Jeddah.