{"id":38825,"date":"2023-12-29T08:07:48","date_gmt":"2023-12-29T02:37:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=38825"},"modified":"2025-04-23T21:21:07","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T15:51:07","slug":"qatar-commutes-8-former-indian-navy-mens-death-sentence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/qatar-commutes-8-former-indian-navy-mens-death-sentence\/","title":{"rendered":"Qatar commutes 8 former Indian Navy men\u2019s death sentence"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Why in news?<\/li>\n<li>India \u2013 Qatar Bilateral Relation<\/li>\n<li>Challenges in India \u2013 Qatar Bilateral Relation<\/li>\n<li>News Summary: Qatar commutes 8 former Indian Navy men\u2019s death sentence<\/li>\n<li>Background of the case<\/li>\n<li>What avenues have been available to India?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Why in news?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Court of Appeal of Qatar commuted the death sentence of eight former Indian Navy personnel.<\/li>\n<li>These personnel were arrested last year in connection with an alleged case of espionage.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>India \u2013 Qatar Bilateral Relation<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>High-level visits<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The two countries have had friendly relations for decades.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Since PM Manmohan Singh\u2019s visit to Qatar in November 2008, the first by an Indian Prime Minister, the relationship has burgeoned.<\/li>\n<li>The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, visited India in 2015, and PM Modi went to Qatar in 2016.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The late Sushma Swaraj became the first Indian Foreign Minister to visit Qatar in 2018.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bilateral trade<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>In 2021, India was among the top four export destinations for Qatar; it is also among the top three sources of Qatar\u2019s imports.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><strong>India\u2019s total imports from Qatar<\/strong> in FY2022-23 were valued at $16.81 billion, of which LNG imports alone were worth $8.32 billion, or 49.5%.\n<ul>\n<li>Qatar is <strong>India\u2019s largest source of liquefied natural gas (LNG)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>India\u2019s exports to Qatar were valued at just $1.97 billion in FY2022-23.\u00a0\n<ul>\n<li>The major exports include cereals, copper articles, iron and steel articles, vegetables, fruits, spices, and processed food products.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Defence co-operation<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Defence co-operation has been officially described as a pillar of Indian-Qatar ties.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The India-Qatar Defence Cooperation Agreement, signed during PM Singh\u2019s November 2008 visit, was a significant turning point. The agreement was extended for another five years in 2018.\n<ul>\n<li>Experts at that time described the agreement as just short of stationing troops.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Indian Naval and Coast Guard ships regularly visit Qatar. QENF delegations participated in two maritime exercises in India in 2021.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Two editions of a joint naval exercise called <strong>Zair Al Bahr<\/strong> have been held.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Indian migrants in Qatar<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Qatar has around 8 lakh Indian migrants, who send remittances back home.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>In FY 2021-22, it sent the eighth-highest amount of remittances among all countries.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Challenges in India \u2013 Qatar Bilateral Relation<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>BJP spokesperson\u2019s derogatory references to the Prophet on a TV show<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The first big challenge to the relationship came in June 2022 over BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma\u2019s derogatory references to the Prophet on a TV show.<\/li>\n<li>Qatar was the first country to object, and demand a \u201cpublic apology\u201d from India soon after the controversy erupted.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Jailing of the eight ex-Navy personnel<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The jailing of the eight ex-Navy personnel is the second big challenge of recent years.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The development blindsided New Delhi in a country where 800,000 Indians live and work. Indians are the largest expatriate community in Qatar.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>The boil over the Israeli bombardment of Gaza<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The news of the death penalty for the Indians has come at a time when the Middle East is on the boil over the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Qatar, which is deeply sympathetic to the Palestinians, has mediated the release of two American hostages from Hamas captivity in Gaza, and the country\u2019s diplomats are said to be working as a regional mediator in the crisis.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>News Summary: Qatar commutes 8 former Indian Navy men\u2019s death sentence<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Qatar has commuted the death sentence awarded to eight former Indian Navy officers over charges of espionage.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Background of the case<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Arrest of eight navy personnel<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>On August 30, 2022, eight former Indian Navy personnel, along with two others, were arrested on undeclared charges.\u00a0\n<ul>\n<li>They were put in solitary confinement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>These personnel were working at Al Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services, a defence services provider company.\n<ul>\n<li>As per different sources, the Indians had been working in their private capacity with the company to oversee the induction of Italian small stealth submarines U2I2.<\/li>\n<li>The company\u2019s old website, which no longer exists, said it provided training, logistics and maintenance services to the Qatari Emiri Naval Force (QENF).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Charges against the men<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The officers were jailed on charges that have not been made public.<\/li>\n<li>However, as per the media reports, the eight Indians had been charged with spying for Israel.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Navy veterans were awarded death penalty<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>In March 2023, the last of multiple bail pleas filed for the veterans was rejected.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The trial began later that month and on October 26, 2023, the death sentence was handed to all eight men.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Appeal filed by India<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>In November 2023, the MEA announced it had filed an appeal and that its legal team had details of the charges.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The Indian ambassador in Doha also met them in prison on December 3.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>This consular access came days after PM Modi met Qatar\u2019s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai on December 1.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>What avenues have been available to India?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>One has been the legal challenge, which has been admitted and helped reduce the sentence for now as a first step.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>At the same time, India has been employing diplomatic channels to reach out to the Qataris.<\/li>\n<li>The families also filed a mercy plea with the Emir of Qatar, who is known to give out pardons during Ramadan and Eid.\u00a0\n<ul>\n<li>This was also being pursued by the Indian government\u2019s help.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q1) What is Qatari Emiri Naval Force (QENF)?<\/strong><br \/>\n\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p>The Qatari Emiri Naval Forces (QENF) is the naval branch of the Qatar Armed Forces. The QENF&#8217;s headquarters are in Doha. The QENF has over 4,000 personnel, including the Coast Guard, Marine Police, and Coastal Artillery.<br \/>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q2) Who is the Emir of Qatar?<\/strong><br \/>\n\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p>The current Emir of Qatar is Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. He has been the Emir since 2013.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong><u>Source:\u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/qatar-court-commutes-death-sentence-of-8-ex-navy-personnel-9086281\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Qatar court drops death penalty for 8 Indians, Govt says sentences reduced<\/u><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-asia-india-67831563\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>BBC<\/u><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/qatar-commutes-death-sentence-indian-navy-veteran-9086293\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Indian Express<\/u><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/qatar-ex-navy-death-sentence-indians-in-jails-abroad-9086599\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Indian Express<\/u><\/a><br \/>\n\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Defence co-operation has been officially described as a \u201cpillar\u201d of Indian-Qatar ties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":38826,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-38825","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}