Another victory for Modi govt diplomacy: Qatar releases 8 former naval officers

In yet another victory for PM Narendra Modi Govt diplomacy, Qatar has released eight Indian former naval officers sentenced to death last year for spying for Israel. India’s government said about it early on Monday morning.

PM Modi govt said it welcoming the release of the eight Indians, adding that seven out of the eight had now returned to India. “We appreciate the decision by the Emir of the State of Qatar to enable the release and homecoming of these nationals,” India’s ministry of external affairs said in a statement.

The men had been working for Dahra Global, a Doha-based defence services company, and were arrested in August 2022 and kept in solitary confinement. They were sentenced to death in October last year. The complete credit goes to the PM Modi foriegn policy, because the charges were severe and Qatar rarely carries out the death penalty.

Their release followed months of negotiations between Indian officials and their Qatari counterparts. Qatar in December dropped the death sentences but kept the men in detention.

Neither Qatar nor India had released details of the charges of which they were convicted, but a person briefed on the case confirmed to the Financial Times in October that the eight had been charged with spying for Israel.