India voices concern over attempted drone attack near Mecca amid West Asia tensions

India on Wednesday expressed deep concern over an attempted drone attack near the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia and reiterated its call for the early restoration of peace and stability in West Asia news agency PTI reportedSaudi authorities said a drone launched by Houthi militants towards Mecca was intercepted and destroyed on Tuesday evening before it entered the prohibited airspace over the holy city The Houthis however denied targeting Mecca or any Islamic holy siteOur response to media queries regarding the drone attack near Makkah httpstcol3qVpApFa3 pictwittercom2bXH7fzijomdash Randhir Jaiswal MEAIndia September 16 2026ldquoWe are deeply concerned at the drone attack near Meccardquo External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal saidldquoIndia reiterates its condemnation of attacks on the sovereign territory of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and of actions that endanger civilian lives and infrastructurerdquo he saidldquoThe incident near Mecca is particularly concerning given the special significance of the city to Muslims across the worldrdquo Jaiswal said while responding to a media queryldquoWe hope for the early restoration of peace and stability in the regionrdquo he addedHouthi attacks target Saudi infrastructure amid West Asia tensionsThe incident has heightened tensions in West Asia coming amid a series of Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia Several areas along Saudi Arabiarsquos western coast including Mecca were placed on security alert on Tuesday after Saudi authorities said their air defences had intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone south of the cityThe drone was destroyed before it entered Meccarsquos prohibited airspace according to Saudi authoritiesIndia had on Tuesday expressed serious concern over Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabiarsquos civilian infrastructure and economic assets warning that such strikes undermine regional stability and threaten freedom of navigation through the BabelMandeb straitExternal Affairs Minister S Jaishankar discussed the latest situation in West Asia during a meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on the sidelines of the BRICS summit on SundayldquoWe have condemned the attack on the Saudi sovereign territory including on the civilian infrastructure and economic assets I would say that such attacks undermine regional stability and threaten freedom of navigation through the BabelMandebrdquo Jaiswal said at his regular media briefing on TuesdayThe Iranbacked Houthi militant group has also attacked Saudi Arabiarsquos EastWest oil pipeline a key route for transporting crude oilBabelMandeb faces fresh security concerns amid Houthi attacksEver since the conflict involving Iran disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz the EastWest pipeline has served as a critical bypass for Saudi Arabiarsquos oil exportsThe Houthi attacks have also raised concerns over the safety of the BabelMandeb shipping lane one of the worldrsquos most critical maritime chokepoints located between the Horn of Africa and the Arabian PeninsulaIt connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian SeaIndia last week condemned the latest wave of attacks on Saudi oil installations The attacks on Saudi oil facilities came amid the United States ramping up its economic sanctions against IranThe Houthis have been operating primarily from YemenWith PTI inputs