Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra
India on Monday appreciated the decision of Qatar’s government and the Amir for release of eighth Indian Navy veterans, who were initially convicted to death on ‘espionage’ charges and later commuted to prison. Seven of them arrived in New Delhi this morning.Where is the eighth ex-Navy veteran released by Qatar?Addressing the media on Monday, India’s Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said, “Eighth Indian national has also been released and we continue to work with the Qatar government to see how quickly his return to India would be possible.”Related Articles How Indian Navy veterans, their families learnt about release from Qatar jailIndia’s first reaction to the release of ex-Navy personnel from QatarAs per reports, only Commander Purnendu Tiwari hasn’t returned yet, Although he has been released from prison along with others, it’s not clear why he’s not back yet.“We are grateful for their return. We are gratified on their return. We deeply appreciate the decision of Qatar’s government and the Amir to release them. We are happy to have seven of those Indian nationals back,” Kwatra said.“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has himself personally constantly supervised all the developments in this case and has never shied away from any initiatives that would ensure the return of Indian nationals back to home,” the Foreign Secretary said.Earlier in the day, the MEA, in a statement, said, “The Government of India welcomes the release of eight Indian nationals working for the Dahra Global company who were detained in Qatar. Seven out of the eight of them have returned to India. We appreciate the decision by the Amir of the State of Qatar to enable the release and home-coming of these nationals.”The move is perceived as a big diplomatic win for India.Also Read: India’s first reaction to the release of ex-Navy personnel from QatarReports say all these eight men will be able to live freely with their families in India.These eight men have been identified as 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.According to an earlier report by PTI, Captain Navtej Singh Gill was awarded the President’s Gold Medal for excellence when he graduated from the Naval Academy and later served as an instructor at the Defence Services Staff College at Wellington in Tamil Nadu.Why were they awarded death sentence?On 28 December, 2023, a court of Appeal of Qatar had reduced death sentence of these eight former Indian Navy personnel to life imprisonment ranging between three years and 25 years. Commander Tiwari, who held a senior leadership position at Dahra Global, was handed the harshest punishment of 25 years.These eight men were employees of Doha-based Dahra Global. They were taken into custody on 30 August 2022 by Qatar’s State Security Bureau, the country’s spy agency. Following their arrest, they were put in solitary confinement during which some of them faced health concerns. They were later put in a double-bed occupancy in a jail ward along with their colleagues.Dahra Global provided training and other services to Qatar’s armed forces. The subsidiary was shut down in May this year.The charges against them were not made public by Qatari authorities, but reports said they had been charged with spying for Israel.Also Read: How Indian Navy veterans, their families learnt about release from Qatar jailAfter the initial verdict was pronounced, India had called it ‘deeply shocking’. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had also met the family members of the eight men and assured them that the government attaches “the highest importance” to the case.On 25 March, 2023, the charges were filed against these eight men after which the trial began on 29 March.In May 2023, Dahra Global shut down its operations in Doha and all employees – primarily Indians – have since returned home.On 1 December last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the Amir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on the sidelines of the COP28 Summit. Two days after this, the Indian Ambassador to Qatar, Vipul, on 3 December, 2023, got consular access to meet the ex-Navy personnel and on 28 December last year Court of Appeal reduces their capital punishment to imprisonment.With inputs from agencies
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India continuing to work with Qatar for quick return of eighth Indian Navy veteran: MEA
