Indian Ambassador Hamid Ali Rao met with Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Salem, deputy minister of interior on Monday and discussed the welfare of the Indian community.

Describing the meeting as “positive,” Sibi George, deputy chief of mission at the Indian Embassy, who also accompanied Rao, later told Arab News.

The ambassador met the deputy minister of interior to discuss various issues relating to welfare of Indian community including developments after the end of the grace period on Nov. 3 last year.

He said the ambassador also thanked him for all the support extended by the Ministry of Interior to help Indian expats fully utilize the concessions under the Nitaqat program. They also took stock of the bilateral affairs between the two friendly countries.

According to the Indian Embassy, during the seven months of grace period, the strength of Indian community in the Kingdom has gone up to 2.8 million, as more than 1.4 million Indians availed the concessions. This includes 434,667 Indians who transferred their services to other firms; 481,233 Indians who changed their profession and over 470,000 Indians who renewed their job permits. The number of Indians who left on final exit during the period was 134,281.