Over 6,500 Indians are languishing in jails in 75 countries with the maximum of 1,896 being lodged in Saudi Arabia.

Minister of state for external affairs VK Singh, in a written reply in Lok Sabha, said 6,567 Indian citizens are in foreign jails and 354 of them are awaiting repatriation after having completed their sentence.

He said India has signed bilateral agreements for the transfer of sentenced persons with 42 countries, under which Indian prisoners have been brought back to India from some of these countries.

Singh said a maximum of 1,896 Indians are lodged in jails in Saudi Arabia, followed by 764 in the United Arab Emirates, 614 in Nepal, 595 in the US, 518 in Pakistan, 325 in Kuwait, 293 in Malaysia, 235 in Bahrain, and 147 in Singapore.

The number of Indians lodged in jails in China is 105 while 130 people are languishing in prisons in Bangladesh.

Indians are also lodged in jails in various other countries, including Australia, Cyprus, Egypt, Japan, Jordan, Denmark, France, Greece, Lebanon and Mauritius.

Replying to a separate question in Lok Sabha, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said 261 people, believed to be Indian fishermen, are in Pakistan jails.