A meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad in Dubai on December 1 last year was said to have paved the way for Qatar to release eight Indian Navy veterans on Monday. Seven of them returned home on Monday and all said this would not have been possible without Modi’s intervention in the Qatar issue.

It was seen as a major diplomatic victory for India, which used official and covert channels to achieve the release. On December 1, Modi met the Emir of Qatar on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai.

“We had a good dialogue on the potential of the bilateral partnership and the well-being of the Indian community in Qatar,” the Prime Minister said of the meeting.

Prime Minister Modi is said to have raised the issue of eight imprisoned Indian Navy veterans in Qatar during his talks with the Emir of Qatar, but so far the two countries have not officially confirmed the issue.

Since that meeting, there have been positive developments, with the Indian ambassador to Qatar gaining consular access to the veterans on December 3 and a court overturning the death sentences of these veterans on December 28. Their release was announced on Monday. Previously, on October 26 last year, the Qatar Court of First Instance sentenced them to death before the appeals court session.

India called the ruling “deeply” shocking and vowed to explore all legal options in the case. In November this year, the appeal filed by the veterans with the assistance of India was accepted by the Qatar Court of Appeal, and an important hearing was held at the Court of Appeal on December 7.

India provides ongoing legal and consular access to naval veterans and the Ministry of External Affairs has repeatedly reiterated that it takes the case “very seriously”. The Indian nationals, all Al Dahra company employees and navy veterans, were detained in August last year on suspicion of espionage. This has led many opposition figures to lash out at the Modi government and demand their release.

India, while welcoming the release of eight Indian nationals, expressed appreciation for the decision of the Emir of the State of Qatar to allow the release and return of Navy veterans.