Does Saudi Arabia’s suspension of block work visas to India indicate collapse of our foreign policy? Fact Check

Arun NagJune 9, 2025

2 minutes read

Claim: Saudi Arabia suspending visas for 14 countries, including India, is just the latest blow in a steady collapse of India’s foreign policy under Modi.

Conclusion: Misleading. Saudi Arabia on April 13, 2025, suspended work visas temporarily for 14 countries, including India, to manage the huge inflow of Hajj pilgrims, and it has nothing to do with the Modi government’s foreign policy.

Rating: Misleading —

See the complete Fact check details in video

Or Read the Fact Check

****************************************************************

A post on X.com by the Congress party’s spokesperson, Pawan Khera, is being shared with a claim that Saudi Arabia suspended visas for 14 countries, including India, suggesting that it indicates the collapse of India’s foreign policy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Saudi Arabia suspending visas for 14 countries, including India, is just the latest blow in a steady collapse of India’s foreign policy under Modi.

China blocked naming the attackers at the UN. Pakistan won the backing from China, Russia, Iran, Turkey, and Malaysia, all…

— Pawan Khera 🇮🇳 (@Pawankhera) June 9, 2025

The text in the post reads: “Saudi Arabia suspending visas for 14 countries, including India, is just the latest blow in a steady collapse of India’s foreign policy under Modi.” To this development, he added other foreign policy issues. The post also cites an article published in the Times of India.

FACT-CHECK

A basic search on Google News revealed that the news is true, but the extrapolation is not. Saudi Arabia on April 13, 2025 temporarily suspended block work visas for 14 countries (including India, Bangladesh, Egypt, and Indonesia) until June 2025 to manage Hajj pilgrims and immigration compliance.

Even MEA has denied the claim as seen below:

CLAIM: Saudi Arabia temporarily suspends issuance of block work visas for citizens from 14 countries, including India.

This CLAIM is FALSE.

FACT: The Saudi Government has not issued any notification on this matter. As a matter of practice, during the Hajj season, there are… pic.twitter.com/8dkJddhj3y

— MEA FactCheck (@MEAFactCheck) June 9, 2025

It was a Hajj-linked administrative decision taken prior to Indo-Pak tensions and has nothing to do with the Modi government’s failure. Several news reports have also covered the development here, and here. Hence, the claim is misleading.