My India First

My India First

‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ Chants As Freed Veterans Return From Qatar


Seven former Navy officers arrived on the Delhi airport within the early hours of Monday

New Delhi:

Setting foot of their homeland after a number of agonising months of captivity in Kuwait, seven of the eight Indian navy veterans who have been sentenced to demise on alleged ‘espionage’ costs, heaped reward on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying they would not have been freed had it for the sustained diplomatic efforts at his behest to safe their launch.

Their demise sentence was later commuted to an prolonged jail time period following sustained diplomatic interventions and authorized help from New Delhi.

Relieved to lastly stroll free, the seven former Navy officers raised chants of ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ after arriving on the Delhi airport within the early hours of Monday.

Talking to the information company ANI, one of many Navy veterans lauded PM Modi for elevating their sentencing with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and attributed their launch to relentless diplomatic efforts at his behest.

“I really feel relieved and delighted to lastly be again house protected and sound. I want to thank Prime Minister Modi as this would not have been doable had it not been for his private intervention to safe our launch. I additionally want to specific my gratitude to Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of the State of Qatar,” he stated.

Carrying a relieving smile and a peaceful manner, one other launched former naval officer informed ANI, “With out the intervention of PM Modi, we’d not have walked free. We would not be standing earlier than you right this moment had it not been for his untiring efforts and interventions on the highest ranges to get us freedom.”

One other freed navy veteran additionally got here out in reward of the Centre’s intervention in securing their launch, saying, “We, in addition to our anxious relations again house, had been ready for today for a very long time. All of it labored out due to PM Modi and his private intervention within the matter. He took up our case with the best ranges of the Qatari authorities and ultimately secured our launch. I haven’t got sufficient phrases to precise my gratitude to him and the Emir of Qatar.”

“We’re very comfortable to be again and it would not have been doable had the honourable Prime Minister not taken private curiosity within the matter. I additionally thank the Qatar Emir for his private involvement within the matter,” one other former Navy officer informed ANI.

“We waited nearly 18 months to be again house to our family members in India. We’re extraordinarily grateful to PM Modi for getting us again. We would not have seen today with out the joint efforts of PM Modi and the Emir of Qatar. The non-public equations that the 2 leaders share additionally helped in our launch,” one other Navy veteran informed ANI after touchdown in Delhi.

Earlier, on Monday, the Ministry of Exterior Affairs (MEA) shared concerning the launch of eight veterans of the Indian Navy who have been sentenced to demise in Qatar.

Amid determined pleas by the anxious kin of the Navy veterans to safe their launch and protected passage again to their homeland, the Ministry of Exterior Affairs (MEA) had assured that it might mobilise all diplomatic channels and prepare authorized help to carry them again.

Of the eight former Navy officers, seven have already returned to India, the Ministry of Exterior Affairs (MEA) knowledgeable via an official assertion on Monday.

The Union authorities launched an official assertion welcoming the choice to set the veteran officers free, saying, “The Authorities of India welcomes the discharge of eight Indian nationals working for the Dahra International firm who have been detained in Qatar. Seven out of the eight of them have returned to India. We respect the choice by the Amir of the State of Qatar to allow the discharge and home-coming of those nationals.”

The eight Indian nationals have been imprisoned in Qatar since October 2022 and have been accused of allegedly spying on a submarine programme. The retired naval personnel have been sentenced to demise by a Qatar court docket on costs that haven’t but been made public formally.

Earlier, the Qatari Court docket commuted the demise penalty sentence of eight ex-Indian naval officers it had arrested final yr within the Dahra International case, the Ministry of Exterior Affairs stated in a press assertion. The sentence has now been decreased to jail phrases.

Describing the judgement, the Ministry of Exterior Affairs had stated, “Now we have famous the decision right this moment of the Court docket of Enchantment of Qatar within the Dahra International case, wherein the sentences have been decreased.”

The MEA additionally stated that the detailed judgement within the case is awaited and are in shut contact with the authorized staff in Qatar.

MEA added, “The detailed judgement is awaited. We’re in shut contact with the authorized staff in addition to the relations to determine on the following steps. Our Ambassador to Qatar and different officers have been current within the Court docket of Enchantment right this moment, together with the relations. Now we have stood by them because the starting of the matter and we are going to proceed to increase all consular and authorized help. We may also proceed to take up the matter with the Qatari authorities.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai and mentioned bilateral partnership and the “well-being of the Indian group” dwelling in Qatar.

Earlier, the newly appointed spokesperson for the Ministry of Exterior Affairs, Jaiswal, emphasised the temporal significance of this era, stating, “So far as the problem is anxious, there’s a time of 60 days when this problem could be appealed within the Court docket of Cassation, which is the best court docket in Qatar.”

The MEA’s authorized staff possesses the confidential court docket order detailing the commutation of the demise sentences to imprisonment phrases, a transfer revealed in a press launch following the court docket of enchantment’s judgement on December 28.

“We issued a press launch wherein we knowledgeable you that the demise sentence, which was initially a demise penalty, has been modified to imprisonment sentences. Now our authorized staff has that court docket order, and I can affirm that each one of them have acquired sentences of various durations, and the demise penalty has been abolished,” Jaiswal stated.

Furthermore, the Court docket of First Occasion of Qatar had additionally handed the judgement towards them, in line with a press release by the Ministry of Exterior Affairs.

The MEA spokesperson additionally highlighted the current assembly that befell between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad and stated that they’ve had a great dialog on the general bilateral relationship.

(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is printed from a syndicated feed.)



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