Qatar shocked many Indians when it announced the death sentence for eight former Indian Navy officials on Thursday (October 26). These individuals had been arrested in August 2022 in an alleged espionage case.
The eight former Indian Navy officers are:
The Ministry of External Affairs stated that the issue pertains to the confidentiality of the proceedings and declined to comment further.
They also added: "We’ve been responding to this regularly. Our embassy is actively pursuing the case. We understand that detained Indians are able to speak to their families in India over the telephone now, some of them have families staying in Doha".
Meetu Bhargava, the sister of one of the former officers detained, has sought government assistance to secure her brother's return.
The Delhi embassy describes the relationship between India and Qatar as "substantive and strong."
Over the years, both Manmohan Singh (2008) and Narendra Modi (2016) have visited Qatar. Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani also visited India in 2015.
Both countries share a friendly relationship and are interdependent for heavy bilateral trade.
Let's understand by looking at some numbers:
In 2021, India emerged as one of the top four export destinations for Qatar, while India ranked among the top three sources of Qatar's imports.
Bilateral trade between the nations is valued at a significant US$15 billion, largely driven by the export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from Qatar, accounting for over US$13 billion of this trade.
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While Qatar lacks official diplomatic relations with Israel, it has played a crucial role in mediating negotiations between Israel and Hamas in the hostage situation.
How? Qatar is currently working to secure the release of civilians captured by the militant group during the October 7 attack.
So far, four hostages have been freed, and officials in Doha, the Qatari capital where Hamas's political office is located, are actively working on a deal to secure the release of the remaining civilian hostages.
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