30 Indian students died in attacks abroad in 5 years: MEA
Union minister of state for external affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh was responding to a question raised by Congress lawmaker Tanuj Punia in Lok Sabha
New Delhi: At least 91 cases of attacks on Indian students studying abroad were reported over the past five years, with 30 of these incidents resulting in deaths, Union minister of state for external affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply.
Responding to a written question raised by Congress lawmaker Tanuj Punia, Singh said, “Safety and security of Indian students abroad is one of the foremost priorities of the Government of India. Indian Missions and Posts abroad remain vigilant and closely monitor any untoward incident against Indian students in their respective countries of accreditation. Such unfortunate incidents, if any, are immediately taken up with the concerned authorities of the host country to ensure that the cases are properly investigated and the perpetrators are punished.”
According to the data provided by the ministry of external affairs (MEA), Canada accounted for the highest number of cases, reporting 27 violent attacks, of which 16 were fatal. Russia recorded 15 incidents with no reported deaths. The United Kingdom and Germany followed with 12 and 11 cases, respectively, with one death reported in each country. The United States saw nine violent attacks—all of which resulted in the deaths of Indian students. Additionally, one fatal case each was reported from China and Kyrgyzstan. Ireland, the Philippines, Italy and Iran reported four, three, three, and one case respectively, none of which led to fatalities. Australia recorded four incidents, including one death.
The government also shared that, as of 2024, 20,77,158 non-resident Indians were residing abroad.
In a separate reply to a question by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) lawmaker T Sumathy, the ministry informed that 6,694 Indians had arrived in Israel for work till March 2025 under the bilateral framework agreement signed between the two countries.
“Of these 6694 Indian workers, 2348 are deployed in building framework, 1955 in iron bending, 1600 in plastering and 791 in ceramic tiling,” the ministry said.