Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 13 (IANS) Ragesh Gopakumar, one of the eight Indians who were recently released from a jail in Qatar, cannot stop thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Gopakumar returned to his home in the suburbs of the state capital city at Balaramapuram after spending 18 months in jail.

He was one of the eight former Indian Defence personnel, who were previously sentenced to death by a court in Qatar. But following massive diplomatic efforts at the highest level between the two countries all of them were set free and got back to India on Monday.

“I just cannot express my happiness on how and what I feel now after getting back home. Am hugely thankful to Modiji, the Emir of Qatar, the team of the External Affairs and the staff of the Indian Embassy in Qatar for making this happen,” said Gopakumar, a former Indian Naval senior sailor.

The Qatar court on Monday released all eight former Indian Defence personnel from its custody, out of which seven have returned to India.

All the eight Indian nationals working for the Dahra Global company were detained in Qatar. Earlier, the capital punishment for the jailed Indian Navy veterans was commuted to an extended prison term after diplomatic talks between Qatar and India.

The eight Indian nationals were imprisoned in Qatar in October 2022 after being accused of allegedly spying on a submarine programme.

The Indian nationals were deemed guilty of espionage by the Qatari court, and were sentenced to death on charges not yet made public.

The Dahra Global case saw a major development last year when the court in Qatar commuted the death sentence of the Indian nationals after intervention by the Indian government. The sentence was reduced to jail terms.

New Delhi, Feb 12 (IANS) India on Monday has welcomed the decision of the Qatar court to release the eight former Indian Army personnel, who were previously sentenced to death, said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a statement.

The Qatar court on Monday released all eight former Indian Navy personnel in its custody, out of which seven have returned to India, said a statement by the MEA.

The MEA said in a statement, "The Government of India welcomes the release of eight Indian nationals working for the Dahra Global company who were detained in Qatar. Seven out of the eight of them have returned to India. We appreciate the decision by the Amir of the State of Qatar to enable the release and home-coming of these nationals."

Earlier, the capital punishment for the jailed Indian Navy veterans was commuted to an extended prison term after diplomatic talks between Qatar and India.

Out of the total eight former Indian Navy officers imprisoned in Qatar, seven have returned to India, said MEA in its statement. Arrangements are being made to bring the last released veteran home.

The eight Indian nationals, formerly Indian Navy personnel, were imprisoned in Qatar in October 2022 after being accused of allegedly spying on a submarine programme. The Indian nationals were deemed guilty of espionage by the Qatari court, and were sentenced to death on charges not yet made public.

The MEA expressed that the ruling of the court was "deeply shocking", and said that they would explore all legal options to get the charges against the former Indian Navy personnel dropped.

The Dahra Global case saw a major development last year when the court in Qatar commuted the death sentence of the Indian nationals after intervention by the Indian government. The sentence was reduced to jail terms.

New Delhi, Dec 28 (IANS) The Ministry of External Affair (MEA) on Thursday said that India has noted the Dahra Global case verdict in which the sentences of eight former Indian Navy personnel on death row have been reduced.

“We have noted the verdict today of the Court of Appeal of Qatar in the Dahra Global case, in which the sentences have been reduced,” said the MEA.

The detailed verdict is awaited. “We are in close touch with the legal team as well as the family members to decide on the next steps,” said the official.

“Our Ambassador to Qatar and other officials were present in the Court of Appeal today, along with the family members. We have stood by them since the beginning of the matter and we will continue to extend all consular and legal assistance. We will also continue to take up the matter with the Qatari authorities,” said the Ministry.

“Due to the confidential and sensitive nature of proceedings of this case, it would not be appropriate to make any further comment at this juncture,” the MEA added.

Last month, the MEA had said that India has filed an appeal with Qatar over the death penalty to eight former Indian Navy personnel, who were arrested in August last year and sentenced last month.

MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said, “There is a Court of First Instance in Qatar that passed a judgment on October 26 in a case involving eight Indian employees of the Al Dahra company.”

He said that the order is “confidential” and it has been shared with the legal team.

New Delhi, Nov 9 (IANS) The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said that India has filed an appeal with Qatar over the death penalty to eight former Indian Navy personnel, who were arrested in August last year and sentenced last month.

At a media briefing here, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “There is a court of first instance in Qatar that passed a judgment on October 26 in a case involving eight Indian employees of the Al Dahra company.”

He said that the judgment is “confidential” and it has been shared with the legal team.

“And they are deciding the next steps and an appeal has already been filed,” Bagchi said.

He said that we are also engaged with the Qatari authorities.

"On November 7, our Embassy got the consular access and we met them there. We are also in contact with their family members and the Minister S Jaishankar had met them last month in Delhi,” the MEA spokesperson said.

He also said that this is a very sensitive issue. “We will continue to extend all legal and consular support and I would urge everyone not to engage in speculation considering the sensitive nature of the case,” he added.

The eight persons were arrested last year after being charged with spying for Israel by Qatar authorities. The men also include decorated officers who once commanded major Indian warships, were working for Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services, a private firm that provided training and related services to Qatar's armed forces.

The bail pleas of the ex-Navy personnel were rejected numerous times and their detention was extended by Qatari authorities. The Court of First Instance of Qatar passed a judgment awarding them the death sentence.

Washington, Nov 5 (IANS) Qatar, a tiny Persian Gulf nation with an abundance of natural gas reserves, is playing a pivotal role as a key negotiator to secure the release of Hamas-held hostages and fulfilling its long-cherished desire for prestige on the world stage. On the flip side, its close ties with Hamas are also coming under scrutiny from the West.

Qatar has become a main intermediary in negotiations supported by the Arabs in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the UAE with the US and Israel to secure the early release of more than 200 hostages captured by Hamas in its attack on Israel on October 7. Four have already been freed. The IDF rescued another earlier this week, media reports said .

Qatari mediators also put through a deal allowing for limited evacuations of foreign passport holders and some critically injured people from the Gaza Strip, which Israel has been pounding with air strikes since the Hamas attack last month, USA TODAY said.

Qatar, one of the richest Gulf nations and third on the list of most gas reserves after Russian and Iran, is seeking to boost its image on the world stage, said Bruce Riedel of the Brookings Institution’s Center for Middle East Policy. "Qatar wants to be a player at the same height as the Saudis or Egypt."

Qatar sits on a peninsula jutting into the Persian Gulf with a sparse population of just 2.7 million, but most of its residents are expatriates. Just 300,000 are Qatari citizens.

Over 1,000 people, including more than 100 Americans, have already exited the besieged territory through the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza under a Qatar-brokered deal with the militants. More departures are expected. How did Qatar, a wealthy Arab state that’s just a speck on maps of the Middle East, find itself thrust in the middle of international diplomacy? asked a USA TODAY commentator in Sunday pages of the widely-circulated dailiy.

"Qatar is looked upon favourably enough by both Hamas and Israel to be willing to engage with them on things like humanitarian issues," said Jonathan Panikoff, an expert on Middle Eastern affairs with the Atlantic Council, a non-partisan think tank based on Washington.

Qatari officials have been working furiously holding talks with Hamas, Israeli and US officials to strategise on the release of the hostages. David Barnea, head of Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad, has reportedly been in Qatar as part of the discussions. Mediators for Qatar have been shuttling between Mossad's Barnea and Hamas leaders to try to secure the hostages’ release, media reports said .

"Qatar has lines of communication with Hamas that almost nobody else has," said John Kirby, the White House’s spokesman for national security issues.

"Qatar is becoming an essential party and stakeholder in the facilitation of humanitarian solutions," Tzachi Hanegbi, Israel’s national security chief, wrote on X. "Qatar’s diplomatic efforts are crucial at this time," he said.

This is not a first for Qatar that helped secure the release earlier this year of four Ukrainian children held by Russia. The US ally helped secure the release in 2014 of an American journalist, Peter Theo Curt, who had been held in Syria for two years.

Qatar played a key role in evacuating refugees from Afghanistan two years ago, as US military withdrew after the Taliban seized power ending a decade-long war. Taliban has an office in Qatar. 

Qatar put through the crucial prisoner swap between US and Iran agreeing to release $6 billion in Iranian oil assets frozen in South Korean banks to be transferred to Doha for Iran to access them for the purchase of humanitarian goods. After the Hamas attack, however, Qatar and the US decided that Iran would not be allowed to access the funds for now, USA TODAY said as US is suspicious of Iran’s intentions to use the funds amid reports it was instigating the militant Hezbollah to strike Iran. .

On the flip side, Qatar’s role in the Gaza hostage discussions has raised eyebrows because of its ties to Hamas, which the US considers a terrorist organization. Qatar is home for the Hamas’ senior leaders in exile, including Khalid Mashaal and Ismail Haniyeh, sanctioned by the US in 2003 for a role in “supervising assassination operations, bombings and the killing of Israeli settlers". Haniyeh was sanctioned in 2018 for “close links with Hamas’ military wing". 

Qatar has for years also subsidised the salaries of public employees, including teachers and doctors, in Gaza under a informal barter brokered by Egypt. Qatar has transferred some $1.5 billion over the past decade to Gaza, under a blockade by Israel and Egypt since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007.

Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, killing more than 1,400 people, kidnapping more than 200 hostages and sparking a war leading to the death of 9,000 Palestinians as estimated by the Hamas-run Health Ministry.