Qatar Releases All Eight Indian Navy Personnel Who Were In Its Custody

In a huge diplomatic victory, Qatar releases all eight Indian Navy Personnel who were in its custody. Seven out of the eight of them have returned home to India. “We appreciate the decision by the Amir of the state of Qatar to enable the release and home-coming of these nationals” says the Foreign Ministry.

What is the exact story behind it—who are these eight Indian Navy Nationals sentenced to death by a court in Qatar and why?

The eight Indian Nationals are Capt Navtej Singh Gill, Capt Birendra Kumar Verma,  Capt Saurabh Vashisht,  Commander Amit Nagpal. Commander Purnendu Tiwari,  Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta and Sailor Rajesh.

The eight former Navy officers who had been sentenced to death had served in the Indian Navy for 20 years. While in the Navy, his tenure has been impeccable and has held important positions. All of them were working in Qatar’s Dahra Global Company Technologies and Consulting Services. According to Aljazeera the company had employed almost 75 Indian Nationals and mostly former Navy Personnel and was shut down in May 2023.This Company used to train the Qatari army. They were looking into the inclusion of Italian U212 stealth submarines in Qatar’s Amiri naval force. They were arrested on August 30 when they were returning to India, since then all of them were in jail.

Where did things go wrong?

In August 2022, the Qatar authorities arrested former navy officers on unspecified charges, the owner of the Qatar’s Dahra Global Company Technologies and Consulting Services, (a defence services provider company owned by an Omani national, a retired squadron leader of the Royal Omani Air Force), was also arrested. However he was released in November. The website of the company, which no longer exits – said it provided training, logistics and maintenance services to Qatari Emiri Naval Force. (QENF).

Managing Director Commander Purnendu Tiwari (Retd) received the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award in 2019 for his service in furthering the bilateral relationship between India and Qatar. He is the only person from the armed forces to have received the award. Most of the arrested men had been working at Doha for four to six years at the time of arrest. The men had been picked up by the State Security Bureau, the Qatari Intelligence agency. The Indian Embassy first learnt about the arrests in mid-September. On September 30, the men had been allowed brief telephonic conversation with their family members. Since then they had been allowed weekly phone calls to family members only in English language.

The arrested officers were kept in solitary confinement, applied for bail in September 2022 but their plea was rejected. As per media reports months later the authorities revealed that the eight Indian Nationals were spying for Israel on Qatar secret submarine program. The Qatar authorities also claim that they have electronic evidence of the matter. Indian Foreign Minister Dr. S. Jaihankar had assured the Parliament to resolve the matter on Priority. He said that their imprisonment was a sensitive matter and their interests are foremost in our minds. Ambassadors and senior officials are in constant touch with the Qatar Government. He assured “they are our priority”.

All these Indian nationals were imprisoned in Qatar since October 2023, subsequently; The Indian Ambassador and Deputy Chief of Mission in Doha met with the naval veterans. CEO of Qatar’s Dahra Global Company Technologies and Consulting Services also tried to help his executives but he was also arrested, after spending two months in solitary confinement, he was released on bail.

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Even the families of jailed Navy veterans had appealed to PM Modi “walk the talk and bring them back”.

On 1^st March 2023 the bail application of all these eight accused was rejected by the Qatari Court. On March 25, a charge sheet was filed against all the eight accused in the court and trail proceedings under Qatari law began on March 29.

On 26^th October, the Qatari Court announced death sentence to all the eight Indian Nationals. India expressed surprise at the verdict and said will explore all legal options in the case.

On February 12, 2024, the eight Indian Navy veterans sentenced to death in Qatar released by the Qatar Government. On their release, the Central Government issued an official statement welcoming the decisions to release the officers and said, “The Government of India welcomes the release of eight Indian nationals who were detained in Qatar. Seven out of the eight of them returned to India. We appreciate the decision by Amir of the state of Qatar to enable the release and home-coming of these nationals”.

Ex- Navy officers say release wouldn’t have been possible without the PM Modi intervention.

Seven out of the eight Indian Navy officers, who were released by a Qatar court months after being sentenced to death on espionage charges heaped praises on Prime Minister Narendra Modi after on arrival in New Delhi on Monday morning. Interacting with reporters, some of the veterans claimed that they wouldn’t have been released had it for the sustained diplomatic efforts at his behest to secure their release. They also raised chants “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” at the Delhi Airport, reported by news agency ANI.

India and Qatar Bilateral Trade

In 2021, India was among the top four export destinations for Qatar and is also among the top three sources of Qatar’s imports.

The bilateral trade is valued at $ 15 billion, which is mostly LNG and LPG exports from Qatar worth over $ 13 billion.  The two sides also agreed to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the establishment of Diplomatic Ties in 2023.