He said, “We are deeply concerned about the drone attack near Mecca. India strongly condemns attacks on the sovereign territory of Saudi Arabia and any action that puts civilian lives and infrastructure at risk. This incident near Mecca is particularly worrying, as the city has extremely sacred significance for Muslims around the world.”
Jaiswal said that India hopes that peace and stability will soon be restored in the region.
This statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs comes after the incident when Saudi Arabia's Royal Air Defense Force shot down a drone fired by Houthi rebels before entering the restricted airspace of Mecca on Tuesday evening.
Major General Turki al-Maliki, the official spokesperson of the coalition formed to restore the legitimate government in Yemen, said that at around 6:50 pm on Tuesday, the Royal Saudi Air Defense Force intercepted and destroyed this drone in the southern area of Mecca.
Al-Maliki said that this is the second attempt to target Mecca. Earlier on 27 July 2017, a similar attempt was also made with a ballistic missile. Describing it as a “terrorist and shameful act”, he said it was an attempt to incite religious sentiments of millions of Muslims around the world and spread panic among Umrah pilgrims.
He said the security of the Two Holy Mosques and Umrah pilgrims is a “red line” and coalition forces will not shy away from taking necessary and stringent measures against such activities of the Houthi militia.