Prime Minister Narendra Modi had raised the case of eight former Navy personnel on death row in Qatar with Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad as the two leaders met in Dubai on the sidelines of CoP28 summit, the government said on Thursday.
Following the meeting, India’s ambassador in Qatar got consular access to meet the prisoners on December 3, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in a media briefing.
"You would have seen Prime Minister Modi meet Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad, the Amir of Qatar in Dubai on the sidelines of CoP28. They've had a good conversation on the overall bilateral relationship as well as in the well-being of the Indian community," he said.
The eight former Navy personnel were awarded death sentenced by a Qatar court on October 26 and the Indian government has filed an appeal against the sentence.
"There have been two hearings. We filed an appeal, from the families, and the detainees had a final appeal. We are closely following the matter and extending all legal and consular assistance. Meanwhile, our ambassador got consular access to meet all eight of them in prison on 3rd December. This is a sensitive issue, but we will continue to follow and whatever we can share, we will do so,” Bagchi said.
The Indian nationals, who worked with private company Al Dahra, were arrested in August last year reportedly in an alleged case of espionage. Neither the Qatari authorities nor New Delhi made the charges against the Indian nationals public.
The arrested Navy veterans are Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Amit Nagpal, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Captain Saurabh Vasisht and Sailor Ragesh Gopakumar.
