Amid the escalating West Asia conflict, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Monday said eight Indian nationals have lost their lives while one remains missing in “various incidents” in the region.At an inter-ministerial briefing here on the West Asia situation, Additional Secretary (Gulf), MEA, Aseem R Mahajan, also said, “Yesterday, an Indian national unfortunately lost his life in an attack in Kuwait.”However, he did not elaborate upon the circumstances of this death.”We express our deepest condolences to the family of the deceased. Our Mission in Kuwait is in touch with the family of the deceased and is coordinating closely with the local authorities to render all support and for early return of his mortal remains to India,” he said.On March 20, at an inter-ministerial briefing on the West Asia situation, Mahajan had told reporters that six Indian nationals had lost their lives while one remained missing in “various incidents”.On Monday, he shared an update, saying, “Eight Indian nationals have unfortunately lost their lives and one Indian national remains missing in various incidents.”The Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia recently said that an Indian national was killed in Riyadh due to the “recent events of March 18″.The ministry also shared that since February 28, around 5.5 lakh passengers have returned from the region to India.The MEA on Monday reiterated that it continues to closely monitor the evolving situation in the Gulf and West Asia region.”We continue to call for restraint and de-escalation, and at the same time emphasise on dialogue and diplomacy, as a means to an early end to the conflict,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.