After days of firefighting the outrage among Gulf countries over two BJP spokespersons’ controversial remarks about Prophet Muhammad, the central government is now charting out a major diplomatic exercise to assuage the concerns of these nations, ThePrint has learnt.

Pushed to a diplomatic corner, India believes that the controversy can have a trickle-down effect, possibly hurting business and trade ties, with a potential threat to the livelihood of Indians living across the Gulf.

India believes...it has to continue working with the governments of Gulf nations, mostly at the local level, to ensure Indians working there do not face any impact of the controversy.

New Delhi has reminded the GCC that Indians living there have never made any untoward remark against the Prophet or Islam, and continue to work there diligently.

Some Gulf countries have told the Narendra Modi government that they are also fearing backlash from their own people and will continue to monitor the situation, said a senior diplomatic source.  

Gulf nations that host a sizable number of Indian expats fear that some employers may hesitate to hire Indian workers if such incidents continue, and want India to stop such remarks from being made.