‘Concerning’: India condemns Houthi drone attack near Mecca

India on Wednesday expressed deep concern over an attempted drone attack on the holy city of Makkah (Mecca) in Saudi Arabia and called for early restoration of peace in West Asia. Saudi authorities said in Riyadh that a drone sent by Houthi militants attempting to target Makkah was intercepted and destroyed on Tuesday evening.

This Indian statement came a day after New Delhi had expressed serious concern over the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia’s civilian infrastructure and economic assets, cautioning that such strikes undermine regional stability and threaten freedom of navigation through the Bab-el-Mandeb strait.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had discussed the latest situation in West Asia during a meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on the margins of the BRICS summit on Sunday. The Ministry of External Affairs’ official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Wednesday: “We are deeply concerned at the drone attack near Makkah.

India reiterates its condemnation of attacks on the sovereign territory of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and of actions that endanger civilian lives and infrastructure.” “The incident near Makkah is particularly concerning, given the special significance of the city to Muslims across the world,” he said, adding, “We hope for the early restoration of peace and stability in the region”.

The drone attack targeting Makkah is being seen as a major escalation in the tensions in West Asia, especially after the Houthis carried out several strikes on Saudi Arabia. The drone was destroyed before it entered Mecca’s prohibited airspace, according to Saudi authorities.

The Houthis, however, denied targeting Mecca or any Islamic holy site. Earlier, the Iran-backed Houthi militant group had attacked Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline, which is considered very crucial for the supply of crude oil.

The Houthis have been mainly operating from Yemen. Ever since the conflict involving Iran disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the East-West pipeline has served as a critical bypass for Saudi Arabia’s oil exports.

The MEA spokesperson said on Tuesday that the issue of the Houthis was also discussed during the meeting between Jaishankar and the Saudi Foreign minister. “We have condemned the attack on Saudi sovereign territory, including on the civilian infrastructure and economic assets.

I would say that such attacks undermine regional stability and threaten freedom of navigation through the Bab-el-Mandeb,” he had said. “These are obviously unacceptable to us; we hope there is early restoration of peace and stability in the region.

Having said that, let me say that we continue to receive energy supplies from that part of the world,” Jaiswal had said. Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 27 years now.

Roy joined The Indian Express in October 2003 and has been reporting and writing explainers and analysis on foreign affairs for about 19 years now. Based in Delhi, he has also led the National government and political bureau at The Indian Express in Delhi — a team of reporters who cover the national government and politics for the newspaper.

He has got the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award for Excellence in Journalism ‘2016. He got this award for his coverage of the Holey Bakery attack in Dhaka and its aftermath. He won the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award, 2023, for the second time for his reporting of the Oct 7 attacks on Israel and the war in Gaza.

He also got the IIMCAA Award for the Journalist of the Year, 2022, (Jury’s special mention) for his coverage of the fall of Kabul in August 2021 — he was one of the few Indian journalists in Kabul and the only mainstream newspaper to have covered the Taliban’s capture of power in mid-August, 2021.

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