MORE THAN THREE months after they were sentenced to death, eight former Indian Navy personnel have been released from custody in Qatar and seven have returned to India.
This was announced by the Ministry of External Affairs in the early hours of Monday.
Hours later, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Qatar on February 14 and meet Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani,after completing his visit to the UAE that starts Tuesday.
Relieved families hailed the efforts of the government and the personal intervention of the Prime Minister - Modi met the Qatar Emir on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai on December 1 - in securing the release of the eight men.
Kwatra too said,"Prime Minister has himself personally,constantly, supervised all the developments in this case and has never shied away from an initiative that would ensure the return of Indian nationals home." He said the Indian government is "gratified" at the decision of the Qatar Emir and the authorities.
The Indian Express has learnt that National Security Advisor Ajit Doval also played a big role in the release of the eight men, even making a quiet visit to Doha "to meet the relevant stakeholders".
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