Indian Navy veterans, who has been put on death row by Qatar authorities on charges of espionage, have returned to India, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed. The eight former Indian Navy officials were condemned to death in October, had been accused of spying for Israel.
Seven of the eight released former Indian Navy personnel returned to India on Monday. Upon their arrival, the Navy veterans thanks Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government for intervening and bringing the navy veterans home.
The released Indian Navy veterans heaped praises on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that they would not have been freed had it not been for the sustained diplomatic efforts on PM Modi's behest to secure their release.
The seven former Indian Navy officers who returned chanted “Bharat Mata ki Jay” after arriving at the Delhi airport in the early hours of Monday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai and discussed bilateral partnership and the "well-being of the Indian community" living in Qatar.
One of the Navy veterans who returned from Qatar said, "We are very happy that we are back in India, safely. Definitely, we would like to thank PM Modi, as this was only possible because of his personal intervention..."
"It wouldn't have been possible for us to stand here without the intervention of PM Modi. And it also happened due to the continuous efforts of the Government of India." said another.
"We waited almost for 18 months to be back in India. We are extremely grateful to the PM. It wouldn't have been possible without his personal intervention and his equation with Qatar. We are grateful to the Government of India from the bottom of our hearts for every effort that has been made and this day won't have been possible without those efforts." said a third Indian Navy veteran.
In October, India said it was "shocked" after a Qatari court had sentenced them to death, but the sentence was reduced in December.
"The Government of India welcomes the release of eight Indian nationals working for the Dahra Global company who were detained in Qatar," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
"Seven out of the eight of them have returned to India," it added, thanking Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for the decision "to enable the release and homecoming" of the detainees.
The eight Indian nationals, who were working on a submarine project with a private company for the Qatari authorities, were arrested in 2022.
The eight men were employees of Al Dahra, a Gulf-based company that offers "complete support solutions" to the aerospace, security and defence sectors, according to its website.
More than 800,000 Indian citizens live and work in Qatar, which is also a significant provider of natural gas for India.
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