Met families of 8 on Qatar death row, said government will make every effort for release: EAM Jaishankar | India News

NEW DELHI: Foreign minister S Jaishankar has said that he had met family members of the eight former Indian Navy personnel sentenced to death by a Qatari court, and assured them that the government would make all efforts to secure their release. In a post on X, Jaishankar said he stressed in the meeting that the government attached 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,” he posted.

The eight men, detained in August last year for allegedly passing on classified information about a Qatar submarine project to Israel, were awarded the death penalty on October 26 by a Qatar court in a verdict India described as shocking. India has spent a considerable amount of money to provide them legal assistance and is currently exploring the legal options it can pursue against the verdict.

The family members sought intervention at the highest level by Indian government. The government has been addressing the issue in diplomatic and security engagements with Doha for over a year but has refrained from making any noise about it, realising the sensitive nature of ties with the tiny but influential Gulf state that’s home to 800,000 Indian nationals. Some unconfirmed reports suggested that Qatar authorities might have radio intercepts of a conversation between one of the former naval officers accused of spying and an Indian official.Watch ‘Highest importance to the case’: Jaishankar meets families of 8 Indians detained in Qatar