Houthi missiles targeting Riyadh's King Khalid Airport as fighting rages in Yemen shows West Asia conflict is escalating, with direct implications for Indian workers and oil prices.
Three killed in Saudi airport attacks? Actually Houthis claimed attack on Riyadh airport with missiles and drones, Saudi says intercepted missile north of capital, flights disrupted. Simultaneously, ground fighting rages between Iran-backed Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces, displacing 2 lakh people.
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For India, this is not distant. 8 million Indians live in GCC, 2.5 million in Saudi alone. Remittances from there are $35 billion. Any escalation hits flights - Air India, IndiGo operate 200 weekly flights to Saudi. Oil: Yemen war premium already pushed Brent up 6% in September, feeding RBI's inflation hike.
India's traditional balancing - good ties with Iran, Saudi, Israel - is getting harder. New Delhi's call for dialogue sounds hollow when Houthis get $200 million from Hezbollah, as per report, and Iran is accused of funding them.
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The lesson: needs strategic petroleum reserves filled and evacuation SOPs ready, as it did during Operation
Tags: Houthis, Saudi Arabia, Yemen War, Riyadh Airport, Indian Diaspora, Oil Prices, West Asia Conflict, India GCC, Remittances