PUTRAJAYA:The Government through the Foreign Ministry is still trying to assist the remaining 45 Malaysian tabligh members stranded in India after they were detained for misusing their social visit pass, said Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar.

He said 144 had earlier been successfully released and repatriated, while the remaining 45 stranded in four to five states in India are now going through different court processes.

Kamarudin said the government was confident of solving the problem, however, it was still subject to the judicial process and a court system that differed slightly in each Indian state.

"However, we are confident of resolving this issue in the near future," he told the media here today, after reading the speech text of Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussien at the signing ceremony of the ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) at Wisma Putra today.

On Hishammuddin's health status as he undergoes the 14-day quarantine after returning from Sabah, Kamarudin said both his COVID-19 tests were negative.

"He has taken the COVID-19 test twice and both returned negative but he still has to comply with the 14-day quarantine, " he said.

--BERNAMA