AKIPRESS.COM - Saudi Arabia has agreed to assist thousands of laid-off Indian workers stranded in the kingdom without money or food, an Indian minister said on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

A sharp drop in oil prices has forced cuts to state spending in Saudi Arabia, the world's top crude exporter. Construction firms have been squeezed financially and have laid off tens of thousands of south Asian and other foreign workers.

More than 6,200 of the stranded Indian workers were employed by construction firm Saudi Oger, a conglomerate owned by the family of former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, which has been unable to pay workers' salaries for months, according to Indian officials.

India's junior foreign minister Vijay Kumar Singh, visiting Riyadh on Wednesday to meet Saudi Labour Minister Mufrej al-Haqbani, said the Saudi government had provided assurances that it would resolve the crisis and ensure workers' financial claims were pursued, even if the workers returned home.

"Things are not as bad as they have been shown and projected," the minister said in joint remarks with Haqbani after their meeting.

"Things are very fine. We are in constant touch with all the officials and the various departments of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia."

Haqbani said Saudi Arabia's King Salman had directed officials to take all measures to resolve the problem at the government's expense, and Riyadh would hire lawyers to pursue the workers' claims and make sure their rights were respected.

"Yesterday, we contracted all the providers to provide health, catering, maintenance and everything, and we contracted the airlines to send back anybody who wants to go there upon the approval of the Embassy of India,” Haqbani said, according to a text of the remarks provided by his ministry.