On the sidelines of COP28 Dubai, on December 1, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, and tweeted: “We had a good conversation on the potential of the bilateral relationship and the well-being of the Indian community in Qatar”. That was a reassuring message for the families of eight ex-Indian navy officials, Captain Navtej Singh Gill and his colleagues, who had been given the death penalty by a Qatar Court of First Instance on October 25, allegedly on the charges of espionage for Israel.
Qatar is procuring U212 advanced stealth submarines from Italy capable of avoiding radar detection. As per the Qatari authorities, these eight officials, while working for a local company, passed intelligence on the stealth features to Israel. The charges, which are yet to be formally communicated to India, appear tenuous as the Indian community has an enviable record of non-interference in the internal affairs of the host countries worldwide. Some reports allege Pakistan and its ISI to have played mischief in the arrest of these officials, as they are unhappy with Qatar and other Gulf countries sourcing defence personnel from India, which until recently was Pakistan’s forte.
Qatar, though a small state, is very rich, has huge reserves of natural gas, hosts a critical United States air base, and is adept at playing a double game between various countries including the US, its allies such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain on one side and Iran, Syria, Egypt, and Kuwait on the other. Even a combination of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries could not alter Qatar’s policies between 2017 and 2021 when they imposed severe penalties on Doha. Qatar sought and got immediate support from Iran. Qatar has been supporting Hamas and several other terror groups much to the annoyance of Washington, the Gulf and other countries.
Qatar played an important role in the negotiations between the US and the Taliban on the pullout of US troops from Afghanistan. Now, its good offices are being used by the US for deals with Iran on several issues and by Israel to release the hostages held by Hamas. The gas reserves owned by Qatar have become more valuable to several European and Asian countries after the imposition of sanctions on the supply of Russian gas by the US and several European countries. For these reasons, Qatar can play an oversized role in its external relations and escape any punitive measures by any major or regional power. Qatar has been declared a major non-Nato ally by the Joe Biden administration.
Though India-Qatar bilateral trade is about $19 billion, a major part of it (of $~16 billion) is the import of natural gas from Qatar. Around 800,000 Indians form about one-fourth of Qatar’s expat population. This limits New Delhi’s options in dealing with the release of these eight former navy personnel, who have been in custody since August 2022. India has employed diplomatic, political, and legal tools in dealing with this issue.
The Government of India is providing legal and consular assistance to these officials, with the Indian ambassador to Qatar meeting them in the jail on December 3. The External Affairs Minister has met with the families of these eight officials and assured them that the government would do its best to ensure their release. The government has assisted these officials to file an appeal against the judgment of the lower court which has been admitted by the court. After government intervention, these officials were shifted from solitary confinement to a jail ward.
Qatar has not executed a prisoner since 2020 and the killings of these Indian officials would send a very negative message about Qatar’s legal process to the world and lead to a severe downturn in its ties with a rising India. If push comes to shove, India would no doubt raise this issue at the International Court of Justice where Qatar could face considerable embarrassment, given that international jurisprudence discourages the death penalty.
Given the political and economic significance of the bilateral ties New Delhi is hopeful that there will be a positive outcome sooner than later.
(Yogesh Gupta is former Ambassador and Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs. X: @AmbYogeshGupta.)
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.