A DIPLOMATIC COUP

It is a ghar wapsi New Delhi had been working on with bated breath for months-ever since news got out that eight former Indian Navy men were facing a dire fate in Qatar.

- Pradip R. Sagar

It was on February 11 that everyone finally breathed easy, as the Narendra Modi government secured a major diplomatic breakthrough. All suspense over their fate ended as the eight navy veterans were released in Doha, where they were being held in captivity since August 2022. Like their arrest on alleged espionage charges, the release was also kept under wraps till the final moment. 

It was in the early hours of Sunday that the Qatari authorities asked the eight men to pack their bags. First, they were taken to the Indian embassy, and then to the airport, where seven of them boarded a special flight that landed in Delhi at 2 am the next day. All this while not even their family members had any knowledge of their homecoming. Some had even lost hope of their release, even after their death sentence was commuted in December last year. (The eighth navy veteran is still in Doha, reportedly awaiting completion of formalities.)