India has asked its citizens in Iraq -- including embassy staff -- to leave the country as soon as possible.
Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha Monday announced his government instructed some 50 Indians now in Iraq to take immediate steps to leave the country.
Mr. Sinha made the statement following a meeting on the crisis in Iraq convened by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and attended by all Indian political parties.
There are currently at least three-point-five-million Indian nationals in the Persian Gulf region.