In a post on X (formerly Twitter), External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar announced the meeting and emphasized that the Indian government will keep up “all efforts to secure their release” from Qatar.
Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar met with the relatives of eight Indians who had been executed in Qatar. He stated that he informed the Indian captives that their problem is of “the utmost importance” to the Indian government on X (formerly Twitter).
“Completely understand the families’ worries and suffering. He emphasized that all efforts will be made by the Government to seek their release. Will collaborate closely with the families on this, he posted on the microblogging platform.
(Image Source : INDIA TODAY)
A court in Qatar this week condemned up to eight former Indian Navy members to death on suspicion of spying for Israel, according to the news agency Reuters, which cited Indian and Arab individuals with knowledge of the case.
The Indian nationals were taken into custody by the Qatari Intelligence Service in August 2022, but the accusations against them were not made public by either Doha or New Delhi.
The individuals worked for a private company called Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services, which provided training and associated services to the Qatari military. Prominent officers who had previously commanded sizable Indian battleships were among them.
Some of them, according to insiders, were working on very secret projects, like Italian-technology-based midget submarines with stealth qualities.
The remarks made by Jaishankar regarding the “highest importance” are a reiteration of a previous statement made by the External Affairs Ministry, which said that India will “extend all consular and legal assistance” to the Indian prisoners detained in Qatar and that it will also confer with Qatari authorities regarding the court’s ruling.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has released an official statement, saying, “We are in communication with the family members and the legal team, and we are investigating all legal options.”
Nonetheless, MEA acknowledged that the procedures were private and declined to comment further at this time.
Details as of now
The eight Indians have the chance to appeal their execution sentences, according to a prior source who briefed Reuters on the case’s developments.
But in response to Reuters’s questions concerning the claims made by these individuals, neither the Indian nor the Qatari foreign ministries have replied.
Nor has the Jerusalem office of the Prime Minister, which oversees Israel’s intelligence services, answered as of yet.
The Navy veterans were accused of spying in connection with an Israeli submarine program, according to media sources.
In June of this year, Meetu Bhargava, the sister of one of the former officers arrested, asked the government for assistance in getting her brother released.
She had begged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to step in, in a post on X, the former Twitter. Her message, which was tagged to Prime Minister Modi and Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, said, “These former Navy men are the pride of the country, and once more, I humbly ask our Honorable Prime Minister to please, without any further delay, bring them back to India right now.”
Navy veterans: who are they?
Among the former Indian Navy officers are Commanders Amit Nagpal, Purnendu Tiwari, Sugunakar Pakala, Sanjeev Gupta, Navtej Singh Gill, Birendra Kumar Verma, Saurabh Vasisht, and Sailor Ragesh.
The intelligence agency of Qatar detained them all in Doha on August 30, 2022.
The Qatari authorities repeatedly rejected the Navy veterans’ bail requests.
