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Indian Consulate suspends Consular services at IAD

DUBAI - The Indian Consulate in Dubai has suspended all Consular services offered at the premises of the Indian Association Dubai (IAD) located at Al Khaleej Centre, severing all ties with the association.

The Consul General of India, Yash Sinha said , "We have stopped consular services with effect from Saturday (Aug 20) until further notice."

"Except for the flexibility of timings available at the IAD centre, withdrawal of Consular service from IAD will not impact the Indian community, or, increase rush at the Consulate counters," he said, disclosing that on an average they received not more than 10 passports from the IAD centre daily."

He pointed out that the Consulate will continue to offer its services from its three other existing centres in Dubai, two of which include the Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (KMCC),and Indian Relief Committee.

Sinha said the consulate's decision to severe its ties with the association was due to its policy of reserving membership for a select few and behaving arbitrarily. "This association does not represent the Indian community any longer," he said, asserting that the Consulate does not any longer recognise it as a representative of the Indian community.

"IAD in fact is rather an elite club open only for a few members. For a body claiming to represent 6,000 Indians in the city, it is very surprising that there are only 180 members from the community," Sinha said.

On the formation of a new Indian association to replace IAD, the Consul General did not rule out the possibility . We are certainly looking into it establishing an apex body that will serve the community. We are talking to members of the community and gathering their opinion and suggestions which will be carefully weighed before taking a decision, " he said.

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