India's first reaction to the release of ex-Navy personnel from Qatar

The Ministry of External Affairs on Monday welcomed Qatar's decision to release the eight former Indian Navy personnel three months after they were given death sentences over suspected espionage."The Government of India welcomes the release of eight Indian nationals working for the Dahra Global company who were detained in Qatar. Seven out of the eight of them have returned to India. We appreciate the decision by the Amir of the State of Qatar to enable the release and home-coming of these nationals," the MEA said in a statement.In what is perceived as a big diplomatic win for India, all the ex-Navy men have been allowed to return to their homeland after months of battle. The foreign ministry said that seven out of the eight men have already returned to India.Who were the eight ex-Navy personnel?The eight Navy veterans worked with Al Dahra, a private company in Qatar.Among the eight men, one is a sailor and others are esteemed Navy officials including Captains Navtej Gill and Saurabh Vasisht, Commanders Purnendu Tiwari, Amit Nagpal, SK Gupta, BK Verma, Sugunakar Pakala, and sailor Ragesh.Captain Gill was honoured with the President's Gold Medal for excellence and served as an instructor at the Defence Service Staff College in Tamil Nadu while Commander Tiwari was recognised with Pravasi Bharatiya Samman in 2019 and had been training the Qatari Navy.Timeline of the events that unfolded26 October, 2023: Handed down death sentences by a lower court20 November, 2023: The Court of Appeal hears their cases1 December, 2023: Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets the Amir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on the sidelines of the COP28 Summit3 December, 2023: The Indian Ambassador to Qatar, Vipul, gets consular access to meet the ex-Navy personnel28 December, 2023: Court of Appeal reduces their capital punishment to imprisonment12 February, 2024: Qatar releases the former Navy men