7,615 Indians lodged in foreign jails: govt

New Delhi: As many as 7,615 Indian nationals are lodged in foreign jails, the Rajya Sabha was told today.

In a written reply, Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh said due to the strict provisions of privacy laws, the US, Canada, Australia and many countries in Europe do not share information about Indian nationals in their prisons.

“As per information available, 7,615 Indian nationals, who went abroad for various purposes including employment, are lodged in foreign jails,” the minister said.

Out of these, 1,810 Indians are lodged in Saudi Arabian jails, and 1,214 are in UAE prisons, he added.

Replying to a separate query, he said as per data obtained by the ministry in December, 2016, there are an estimated 1.16 crore non-resident Indians settled globally.