From Qatar jail to India, the pursuit of freedom

A combination of pictures shows the ex-Indian Navy veterans, who were in custody in Qatar, at the Delhi airport on Monday.

The arrest in August 2022 of eight retired Indian naval personnel working on a project in Qatar on publicly undisclosed charges, under trial for 18 months, kept in solitary confinement for some time, not allowed consular access initially, a lower Qatari court sentencing them to death in October 2023, an appeals court commuting the death sentence to varying prison terms in December 2023, presented a major challenge to India at the political level at home, a challenge to its diplomacy and a threat to its friendly ties with Qatar.

The distraught families of the imprisoned personnel expected the government to bring them home safely. The Indian Navy as an institution was perturbed by this seemingly arbitrary and opaque action by the Qatari authorities. Many in India felt that Qatar was humiliating India by its actions.

India and Qatar have had friendly and productive ties. High-level visits are regular – Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi visited Qatar in 2016. The country is the largest supplier of LNG and LPG to India. There are over 15,000 big and small Indian companies operating in Qatar and over 835,000 Indian nationals reside there.

All this explains why India has handled this murky affair with a great deal of patience and discretion. At the official level, India was not goaded by public opinion into denouncing the Qatari action, discrediting its justice system as primitive and not following the canons of modern law. The ministry of external affairs (MEA) only said it was closely following developments, was in touch with the families of the accused, was offering the required legal help, our mission was in touch with the naval personnel, and that all assistance would be provided in the appeals process. The MEA took the position that there were stages in the legal process in Qatar that should be allowed to be completed.

It is worth recalling that in the case of the Italian marines who shot Indian fishermen close to Indian shores, India withstood all pressure to release them and ensured that the legal process in India was completed. Eventually, the prisoners were handed over to Italy to complete their prison terms back home. The issue that had begun to poison India-Italy relations was thus resolved.

Along with concerns about the uncertainties associated with an opaque judicial process, it was speculated that the Emir, who had the power, would pardon them. The Indian strategy to deal with the case, now acknowledged officially by the Indian foreign secretary, was led and closely monitored by the PM himself. PM Modi has, as we see in his handling of the Gulf monarchies, a fine understanding of how best to deal with issues that arise in our relations with them. The ultimate power resides in the Emir.

PM Modi met Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai on December 2, 2023. PM Modi posted on X that they “had a good conversation on the potential of bilateral partnership and the well-being of the Indian community in Qatar”, which was a subtle hint that the case of the imprisoned naval personnel was discussed. The MEA announced on February 12 that the ex-naval personnel had been released due to the “decision by the Emir of the State of Qatar”.

As part of his imaginative diplomacy in the Gulf region, PM Modi visited Doha on February 14 after visiting the UAE, where he reviewed with the Emir the full range of India-Qatar relations and discussed ways to deepen cooperation across sectors. According to the foreign secretary, the Prime Minister thanked the “Emir for his support for the welfare of the Indian community, and in this regard, expressed his deep appreciation to the Emir for the release of eight Indian nationals”. He invited the Emir of Qatar to visit India.

As they say, all’s well that ends well.

Kanwal Sibal is a former foreign secretary and presently, chancellor of JNU. The views expressed are personal

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