India's Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan on Wednesday affirmed that travel restrictions to and from India are likely to ease in the coming days. The development has come as India is witnessing a decline in the number of COVID-19 cases across various states. It will further boost travel between India and UAE as restrictions will be reduced.

The Indian Minister is visiting the UAE for a few days to attend the sixth ministerial consultation of the Abu Dhabi Dialogue. While interacting with the media at the Indian pavilion at Expo 2020, he expressed India's willingness to ease its travel restrictions.

"I am hoping that in the coming days, travel restrictions will be eased as there is a significant drop in the new cases in India. We had some talks and consultations on it on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi Dialogue, but the formal announcement will come from the other countries involved," Muraleedharan said.

The Abu Dhabi Dialogue is a regional, voluntary and non-binding consultative process that takes place between various Asian countries of labour origin and destination. The event is aimed at providing a platform to nations to facilitate regional cooperation on contractual labour mobility and sharing experiences to enhance the process of learning.

Underlining the significance of the dialogue during the COVID-19 pandemic, the minister expressed hope and optimism towards easing of travel restrictions to allow migrants to travel to and from India.

When asked about initiatives taken by the Indian government for workers who return to India from abroad, Muraleedharan explained that India has launched various rehabilitation projects for welfare and re-integration of blue-collar workers. The government has also created an employee-employer platform to allow employers to utilise the data of employees and hire people based on their abilities.

"Any worker who returns to India after losing job abroad can list their skill capacity in the prescribed performa with the ministry," he added.

He highlighted that a ministerial declaration has been finalized at the Abu Dhabi Dialogue for expats, particularly for workers. The declaration aims to give importance to their welfare, wages and job security. In addition, domestic workers, especially women and their welfare, will be given priority through the declaration. He noted that the decision was taken after popular demand from all participating countries who pledged to work for the welfare of workers.

Ministers from 12 Asian countries that sends non-resident blue-collared workers as well as six Gulf nations that employ these workers participated at the Abu Dhabi Dialogue.

During a media briefing, Muraleedharan said that a total of 18 countries participated in this year's ADD and fruitful discussions took place between the ministers on the subject of labour welfare.

Muraleedharan said he held talks with labour ministers of Saudi Arabia at the Abu Dhabi Dialogue about the issues faced by blue-collared workers and female workers. The ministers affirmed to resolve their issues at the earliest.

As part of the Saudi Vision 2030, Riyadh is planning on creating at least 400,000 jobs in the country in the coming years. It will serve as a great opportunity for skilled Indian workers willing to work in Saudi. Several discussions took place between Muraleedharan and Saudi ministers about the best practices to enhance worker welfare.

He also toured the Indian pavilion at Dubai Expo 2020. Taking the tour, Muraleedharan said that India is transforming into an economic powerhouse.

"Every Indian visiting the pavilion would be able to witness matters that bring in a sense of pride for him. The visitor would be able to witness India's achievements on various developmental fronts as well," he added.

In the UAE, the minister also held meeting with social workers, community and business leaders at the Consulate- General of India in Dubai.

Speaking with the media, EP Johnson, the president of the Indian Association in Sharjah, noted that the community expressed issues faced by Indian expatriates in the UAE during talks with the Minister.

"We have requested him to consider providing non-resident Indian students with a special admissions quota in professional colleges and also touched upon the subject of medical, life insurance and pension for NRIs who are returning home after retirement from here," he added.

He noted that there are plenty of job opportunities for blue-collared workers in the UAE. However, the high airfares and the cost of multiple pre-travel RT-PCR tests are discouraging workers from travelling to the UAE, he pointed out. In addition, social workers raised the concerns related to repatriation of mortal remains for free from the UAE to India.