Jaishankar Meets With Families of Former Indian Navy Officials On Death Row In Qatar, Vows Continued Efforts For Release

On Monday (30 October), External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with the families of eight former Indian Navy personnel who were recently sentenced to death in Qatar.

During the meeting, he reassured them that the Union government is fully committed to doing everything possible to secure their release.

Jaishankar, in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), expressed that he had met with the families of the 8 Indians detained in Qatar.

He emphasised that the government considers this case to be of utmost importance and shares the concerns and pain of the families. Jaishankar assured that the government will persistently work towards securing their release and will closely coordinate with the families throughout the process.

“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. Underlined that Government will continue to make all efforts to secure their release. Will coordinate closely with the families in that regard," Jaishankar said.

In August 2022, the eight Indian nationals were arrested for alleged espionage and were subsequently sentenced to death by a court in Qatar on 26 October.

India expressed deep shock at the ruling and stated that it would pursue all available legal avenues in response to the case.

The individuals arrested were Indian nationals who had previously served in the Indian Navy.

They were 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. These individuals were employed by Dahra Global.

The specific charges against the Indian nationals were not disclosed by Qatar.

According to reports, they were privately employed by Dahra Global to supervise the introduction of Italian small stealth submarines U2I2.