22OCT

India says Saudi attacks must stop

2 min read

17:22UTC

New Delhi called the strikes on Saudi airports and oil sites unacceptable after an Indian died at Dammam, as thousands of Umrah pilgrims wait for flights home.

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ConflictDeveloping

Key takeaway

India demanded an end to attacks on Saudi Arabia after an Indian died at Dammam airport.

India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) called the attacks on Saudi civilian and energy sites "unacceptable" on Thursday 22 October and said they "must cease immediately"⁠¹. An Indian national was one of the two people killed at Dammam's King Fahd International Airport the evening before. The Indian embassy counts two Indians injured at Dammam; the Saudi Energy Ministry says a third was hurt at the Shaybah Oilfield.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said about 3,000 stranded Umrah pilgrims (Muslims on the minor pilgrimage to Mecca, made at any time of year) came home from Saudi Arabia in the past week. Asaduddin Owaisi, a member of Parliament, says 4,000 are still stuck after IndiGo, Akasa Air and Air India cancelled flights⁠².

At sea, Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said the 21 Indian crew of the Kuwait-flagged tanker Al Dasma are "completely safe"⁠³. Indian seafarers have died in this war before: a torpedo killed an Indian crewman on the bulk carrier Cape Dao off Musandam in September.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

Millions of Indian citizens live and work in Saudi Arabia, and many more travel there for religious pilgrimage. Recent attacks have hit Saudi airports and oil sites, and some Indians have been killed or hurt. India's government has condemned the attacks and is bringing pilgrims home, but opposition politicians say thousands are still stranded because airlines have cancelled flights.

Deep Analysis

Root Causes

About 2.5 million Indians live and work in Saudi Arabia, the largest group of foreign workers in The Kingdom. Their wages and remittances make Gulf safety a domestic issue in India, especially in Kerala and Uttar Pradesh.

India also depends on both sides for energy and trade. It buys Saudi crude and needs Iran's Chabahar port for access to Afghanistan and Central Asia, so naming an aggressor carries a direct cost.

What could happen next?

Consequence
If cancellations continue, Delhi may have to charter flights or send military aircraft to bring pilgrims home.
Meaning
Condemning the attacks without naming an attacker keeps India's channel to Tehran open while it seeks safety for Indian crews at sea.

Source Landscape

This story draws on neutral-leaning sources

Primary parallel: In 1990, after Iraq invaded Kuwait, India evacuated more than 170,000 citizens, about 111,700 of them on 488 Air India and Indian Airlines flights from Amman over 59 days. It managed this while keeping relations with Baghdad, which controlled the exit routes.

Counter-parallel: In April 2015 Operation Raahat took about 4,600 Indians and 960 foreigners out of Yemen. India had to ask the Saudi-led coalition for pauses in air strikes to land at Sanaa, so its evacuation then depended on a party to the war.

Indian airlines lose revenue on the busy Gulf routes, and cancellations raise fares on the remaining flights through third countries. Remittances from Saudi Arabia support millions of Indian households, so a prolonged evacuation would reduce household income in Indian states that depend on Gulf work.

Consensus view: India's Ministry of External Affairs called the attacks on Saudi civilian and energy sites 'unacceptable' on 22 October and said they 'must cease immediately'. The statement names no attacker, so Delhi condemns the harm to its citizens without breaking with Tehran.

Counter-view: Asaduddin Owaisi, the opposition MP, puts the number still stranded at 4,000 after IndiGo, Akasa Air and Air India cancelled flights. His figure points to the weak link in Delhi's approach: it relies on commercial airlines rather than a state evacuation.

Key tension: Whether Delhi will run a state evacuation, which would admit that Saudi Arabia is unsafe, or keep relying on commercial flights.

First Reported In

Update #182 · Iran says it mined Hormuz and hit 7 ships

ETV Bharat· 22 Oct 2026

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Causes and effects

Caused by

Attack on Dammam airport kills two

India condemned the attacks that killed and injured Indian nationals in Saudi Arabia.

Occurred 21 Oct 2026

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UKMTO confirms one tanker hit near Bukha

India's shipping minister reported on the Indian crew of the struck Al Dasma.

Occurred 21 Oct 2026

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This Event

India says Saudi attacks must stop

Indian citizens are now among the dead in Saudi Arabia and the crews under fire at sea, and Delhi has publicly demanded the attacks stop.

Different Perspectives

Wang Yi

China's foreign minister and Djibouti's issued a joint communique on 21 October saying the war should not reach the Horn of Africa and stressing free navigation through Bab al-Mandeb. The text names neither Iran nor the Houthis, and Djibouti hosts China's only overseas military base, opposite the Yemeni coast.

Ministry of External Affairs

India's foreign ministry called the attacks on Saudi civilian and energy sites "unacceptable" on 22 October and said they must stop at once. An Indian died at Dammam, Indians were injured there and at Shaybah, and about 4,000 Umrah pilgrims remain stranded by one MP's count.

Iraq

Iraq closed the al-Sheeb crossing with Iran to travellers and trucks from 21 October and said other crossings would close gradually. Unlike September's closure, which ended on a staged timetable, this one has none, and Iran's interior ministry said it received no notice.

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi

Egypt's president said on 21 October that Cairo's support would "defend Saudi territory, and does not include an attack on Yemen". Araghchi warned that Egyptian involvement would further complicate the situation, and Cairo's limit matches the one Ankara set on 8 October against attacking another state's soil.

UK Ministry of Defence

The MoD said on 20 October that RAF Typhoons over Saudi Arabia will not strike the Houthis, but extended tanker support to Saudi operations including against Houthi targets in Yemen. The tanker line sets no limit on strikes, so British aircraft may now refuel Saudi jets on bombing runs.

Turkey

Ankara sent the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement to parliament around 20 October, and its published text treats an attack on one party as an attack on all. Article 16 brings it into force only on the last ratification, so the 5 October invocation in Riyadh could not yet bind Turkey.

Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Editorial standards.