India attaches highest importance: EAM S Jaishankar tells families of 8 facing death in Qatar

The eight former Indian Navy personnel were on Thursday handed down death sentence by Qatar's Court of First Instance. India described the ruling as 'deeply' shocking and vowed to explore all legal options in the case.

New Delhi: The government attaches "highest importance" to bringing back home the former Indian Navy personnel, who are now on death row in Qatar, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday.

Jaishankar met the members of the families of the eight former Indian Navy personnel, who were last week awarded death sentences by a court in Qatar, purportedly after being accused of spying for Israel.

He told them that the government would continue to make all efforts to secure the release of the citizens of India incarcerated in Qatar. He also assured them that the government would coordinate closely with them about its efforts to bring the former Navy personnel back home.

“Met this morning with the families of the 8 Indians detained in Qatar. Stressed that government attaches the highest importance to the case. Fully share the concerns and pain of the families,” the external affairs minister posted on X.

“Underlined that government will continue to make all efforts to secure their release. Will coordinate closely with the families in that regard.”

The former Indian Navy officers, Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, Commander Amit Nagpal, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta and Sailor Ragesh, had been arrested from Doha by the Qatari intelligence service on August 30, 2022.

They had all been employees of the Al Dahra company, which had been offering training and several other services to the security agencies as well as the defence forces of Qatar. The company had over 70 Indians, mostly former Indian Navy officials, on its staff. It had suspended its operations in Qatar last May, several months after its officials had been put in jail.

Though neither Doha nor New Delhi has ever officially made public the charges against the eight Indian Navy personnel, sources said that the Government of Qatar accused them of espionage, particularly of passing on intelligence to Israel about a project to build advanced stealth submarines for the Qatari Emiri Navy.

“Every effort is being made by the government to ensure we take up through the legal course and we get relief for our personnel,” Indian Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar said on Monday.

The Court of First Instance of Qatar pronounced the verdict on October 26, awarding the death sentence to all the eight incarcerated citizens of India. New Delhi stated that it was ‘deeply shocked’ by the verdict. The Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi said that it would continue to extend all consular and legal assistance to the former Indian Navy personnel.

A source in New Delhi said that the government was in touch with the Government of Qatar through diplomatic channels to secure the release of the incarcerated Indians.

The eight former Indian Navy personnel have the option of moving to the Court of Appeals of Qatar challenging the verdict of the Court of First Instance. If the verdict of the Court of Appeals also goes against them, they can knock on the doors of the Court of Cassation, the highest court of Qatar.

New Delhi is likely to continue its diplomatic engagements with Doha on the issue even while seeking to get the incarcerated released through legal means.

The execution of death sentences is rare in Qatar, with the last taking place in 2000 after a gap of 17 years.