Leverage diplomatic and political might: Congress to Centre on death sentence to 8 Indians in Qatar

'It (the Congress) hopes and expects that the Govt of India will use its diplomatic and political leverage with the Qatar government to the maximum to ensure that the officers have full recourse to appeals and also do the utmost to get them released at the earliest,' party leader Jairam Ramesh said.

New Delhi: With eight former Indian Navy personnel being handed death penalty in Qatar, the Congress on Thursday said it expects that the Centre will use its diplomatic and political leverage with the Qatar government to ensure that the Indians have full recourse to appeals and also do the utmost to get them released.

The Indian nationals, all employees of Al Dahra company, were taken into custody in August last year in an alleged case of espionage. The charges against the Indian nationals were not made public by Qatari authorities.

In its reaction, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) described the verdict as 'deeply' shocking and said that it is attaching 'high importance' to this case as well as exploring all legal options.

In a post on X, Congress general secretary, communications, Jairam Ramesh said, 'The Indian National Congress has noted with the greatest anguish, distress and shock the most disturbing developments in Qatar regarding 8 former officers of the Indian Navy.'

'It (the Congress) hopes and expects that the Govt of India will use its diplomatic and political leverage with the Qatar government to the maximum to ensure that the officers have full recourse to appeals and also do the utmost to get them released at the earliest,' Ramesh said.

The MEA has said it will continue to extend all consular and legal assistance to the Indians.

'We attach high importance to this case, and have been following it closely. We will continue to extend all consular and legal assistance. We will also take up the verdict with Qatari authorities,' it said in a statement.

'Due to the confidential nature of proceedings of this case, it would not be appropriate to make any further comment at this juncture,' it added.

India's ambassador to Qatar met the men in prison on October 1 after being granted consular access.