The Ministry of External Affairs on Monday rejected a news report claiming India was working with the UAE to evacuate Indian workers through the Fujairah port, in view of the escalating tensions in the Gulf region amid the West Asia conflict.
Speaking at an inter-ministerial briefing on the West Asia conflict on Monday, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal dismissed the news report as baseless and stressed that there is "no plan to evacuate" Indian nationals from Fujairah or from the UAE.
"You talked about a particular news item. I would also request you to look at MEA FactCheck because we've already issued a clarification on this account. There is no basis, in fact, for such a story. Also, there is no plan to evacuate Indian nationals from Fujairah or from the UAE. So, also please do look at the clarification that we've issued," he told reporters in response to a question.
Earlier in the day, the MEA's fact-check team posted on its X account, labelling the report as "fake news."
"Fake News Alert! There is no basis in fact for such a story. There is no evacuation being planned. Please stay alert against such false and baseless claims," MEA FactCheck said in its post.
The news report was published in a leading national daily on Monday.
During the briefing, Jaiswal was also asked about the upcoming meeting of the foreign ministers of BRICS member nations and other countries under India's chairmanship.
"Your question was about Iran's foreign minister...See, we have the BRICS foreign ministers meeting to be held in New Delhi. For this, we expect foreign ministers from member countries of BRICS, as well as partner countries of BRICS, to join us. We shall keep you updated as to who the leaders are who will be here," Jaiswal said.
He also reiterated India's stand on the West Asia conflict and asserted that dialogue and diplomacy are the way forward to restore peace in the region.
(With inputs from PTI)