Eight Indian nationals imprisoned in Qatar since October 2022 were accused of espionage.

New Delhi:

Clarifying the status of the eighth former Indian Navy officer, who was given death sentence by a Qatar court in an espionage case before being released, the External Affairs Ministry on Thursday said he has to fulfill certain requirements.

The Ministry of External Affairs said in a briefing on Thursday that the eighth Indian citizen will return as soon as all the requirements are met.

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, External Affairs Ministry official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, ‘As you are aware, all 8 Indian nationals involved in the Al Dahra Global case have been released.’

“Seven of them have returned to India…The eighth Indian citizen has to fulfill some requirements. Once those are fulfilled he will return. So, we are on the 8th citizen,” Mr Jaiswal said.

Amid calls by worried family members of naval veterans for their release and safe return to their motherland, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had assured that it will mobilize all diplomatic channels and arrange legal assistance to bring them back.

The Navy veterans–Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, Commander Amit Nagpal and Sailor Ragesh–were detained in August 2022.

On December 28, 2023, Qatar’s appeals court commuted the death sentences of all eight men to October 2023.

Eight Indian nationals imprisoned in Qatar since October 2022 were accused of spying on the submarine programme. The retired marines were sentenced to death by a Qatari court on charges that have not yet been officially made public.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai and discussed bilateral partnership and the “well-being of the Indian community” in Qatar.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)