31,318 Indians have died in foreign countries since 2014: Govt

As many as 31,318 Indians have died in foreign countries since 2014 with more than half of the deaths being reported from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday.

Replying to a written question, Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh also said that there are 15,405 Indians in foreign jails since 2015.

Highest number of prisoners are lodged in Saudi Arabian jails (5,590), while 1,132 Indians are in jails in Pakistan.

However, due to the strict provisions of privacy laws, the United States, Canada, Australia and many countries in the Europe do not share full information about Indian prisoners in their jails, the minister said.

Giving details of the deaths of Indians in 106 countries, Singh said over 10,000 nationals have died in Saudi Arabia while over 6,000 Indians have died in the UAE since 2014.

Eight such deaths have been reported from Pakistan.

Countries which have reported significant number of deaths, include Bahrain, Canada, Kuwait, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar and the US.

Image used only for representative purposes. Photograph: Mitesh Bhuvad/ PTI