Eight Former Indian Navy Officers Get Death Penalty In Qatar

Relevance: GS2- Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora

(Source: The Hindu, 10/27/2023)

Click here for Daily Current Affairs

Why in the news?

• Recently, eight former Indian Navy personnel employed by a company in Doha were handed the death penalty by a local court in Doha on October 26 in an alleged case of espionage.
• India has said that it is deeply shocked and that it would explore legal options and take up the matter with Qatari authorities.

Why has Qatar sentenced the former Indian Navy officials to death?

• Qatar has convicted eight Indian nationals employed by the Al Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services in Doha for the offense of breaching sensitive secrets and espionage and sentenced them to the death penalty.
• The company is involved in the production of high-tech Italian-origin submarines with stealth capabilities.
• The Indian nationals were involved in training various security-related service providers of Qatar.
• One of them, Commander Purnendu Tiwari (retd) is the only person from the armed forces to receive the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (2019) for his contributions to improving India-Qatar ties.
• Trials were conducted in March and then in June 2023 following their arrest in August 2022.
• However, the trial has been conducted in an opaque manner with limited information available in the public domain, raising concerns about the justness of the trial.

How has India responded?

• India stated that it was shocked by the death penalty and claimed that it was awaiting a detailed judgment before exploring its legal options.
• India also added that it would extend all consular and legal assistance and take up the matter with the Qatari authorities.
• The men were granted consular access on multiple occasions and met with the Indian Ambassador to Qatar.

Could the verdict impact India-Qatar relations?

• Diaspora: There are over seven lakh Indian migrants in Qatar and the diaspora plays a significant role in fostering ties between the two countries.
  • The conviction and sentencing of the death penalty could discourage Indians from migrating to Qatar and affect India-Qatar people-to-people ties.
• Economic: India has close economic ties with Qatar which could become strained as a result of the verdict.
  • Qatar accounts for over 48% of India’s global LNG imports, making it the largest supplier of LNG to India.
• Diplomatic: The verdict is the first major crisis in the otherwise steady India-Qatar diplomatic relationship.
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Doha in June 2016 and also met with the Emir of Qatar on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in 2019.
  • External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar also visited Qatar in February 2022.

(*Click this link to read prelims specific weekly current affairs articles)

FAQs

MCQs

Question: Which of the following countries are participants in the Za’ir-Al-Bahr military exercise?

(a) Iran

(b) UAE

(c) Qatar

(d) Bahrain