Qatar Awards Death Penalty to 8 ex-Indian Navy Officers

A Qatar Court on 26 Oct announced the death sentence for eight ex-Indian Navy personnel. In August 2022, Qatari authorities took the officers into custody on unspecified charges. After months of detention, the Qatari authorities revealed that the officers were spying on Qatar’s secret submarine program for Israel. The Indian nationals are all employees of Qatar’s Dahra Global Technologies and Consulting Services. It is a private company that offers training and various other services to the defense and security agencies of Qatar. India's ambassador to Qatar met the men in prison on 1 Oct after being granted consular access. The verdict came days after the meeting. The Indian government termed the verdict ‘deeply shocking.’ The accused have been in custody for a year; still the Indian government did not move any documentation or pursue diplomatic channels to secure their release. India has already lost face in the Five Eyes over the Mossad-style killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar due to Canada’s public accusation and the resultant diplomatic fallout. This is another indication of India losing clout in the Arab world as well. This is now a test for India’s diplomacy. By 2018, in the last seven years, India invested $450 million in Qatar. Earlier in 2023, it was reported that Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Retail alone would get a $1 billion investment from Qatar's sovereign wealth fund. Last year, the Indian vice-President visited Qatar and lavishly praised its investment in India. The question is: have huge mutual investments by the two countries given India any leeway with Qatar to rescue its citizens?