Leverage ties to solve Qatar tangle

Much disquiet is bound to be felt in India with the news that a court in Qatar has pronounced death sentence for eight Indian employees of a Qatari firm for being involved in espionage on behalf of a third country.

The Modi government will require to explore all available political and legal options to get the sentences revoked, secure their release and arrange their repatriation to India.

Sensitive nature of the case has necessitated veils of secrecy and not much is known about the legal procedures and processes in this Middle East nation.

Understandably, the option of moving to a higher court of appeal or ultimately seeking pardon from the Emir of Qatar must not be spared.

If need be, the case can even be taken up at the highest level by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who enjoys a warm personal relationship with the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamid al-Thani.

The MEA had actively pursued the case since its inception and the Indian envoy was even provided consular access to the imprisoned personnel in the first week of October. India and Qatar have consistently maintained friendly bilateral relations.

Around 50 per cent of the liquefied natural gas that India imports comes from Qatar. Besides, around eight lakh Indians working there constitute about a third of the resident population of the peninsula. Given this nature of ties, the stakes are high for the Indians expatriates if the case culminates into executions.

The Ministry of External Affairs has entrusted the mission to take up the matter with the authorities in Qatar to Mr. Deepak Mittal, an experienced diplomat who had been India’s envoy in Doha till September 2022.

The persons who were taken into custody in August 2022 were in solitary confinement but were later paired in a cell.

It is imperative that the issue is resolved at the diplomatic level as public level discussion would only cast a shadow over the robust ties the two nations have shared. Leveraging ties will therefore be of crucial importance.