According to the Center in Parliament, there are 7890 Indians imprisoned in various foreign countries. This is up to February 2021. Half of them are in prisons in the Gulf countries. Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan presented the figures in Parliament. It is estimated that more than half of Indian prisoners are in the Gulf.
Saudi Arabia has the largest number of Indian prisoners. There are 1570 people in Saudi jails. The UAE is followed by 1292 Indian prisoners. There are 460 Indians detained in Kuwait, 439 in Qatar, 178 in Bahrain, 40 in Oman and 70 in Iran.
About 2,000 Indian nationals are being held in neighboring prisons for various crimes. There are 886 prisoners in Nepal. There are 524 people in Pakistani jails. There are 267 Indians in jail in the US. There are 373 people in prison in the UK. The Minister of State for External Affairs said that legal aid was being provided to the imprisoned Indians and talks were underway with the concerned countries to repatriate them.