Vantage | Why Qatar freeing sailors is a big diplomatic win for India

With China as an exception, most countries have a good rapport with India. It is not a fluke, though; it is the result of consistent diplomacy. Look at what happened in Qatar. Eight Indian sailors had been jailed by Doha. All of them were former Indian Navy personnel. The charges were quite serious; some reports said they were of espionage. At first, Qatar sentenced them to death, but India did not give up. New Delhi used quiet diplomacy behind the scenes, and on Monday we saw the results: Seven of the eight sailors are back in India.

So diplomacy has worked; the sailors think that Prime Minister Modi personally intervened. Even the government has hinted at this. The External Affairs Ministry has thanked the ruler of Qatar. It also said PM Modi was personally overseeing the issue. Even the eighth has been released, but his return to India is still being worked out. So the job is almost done. Let’s take a step back now and look at a few important questions: Why were the sailors jailed? Why was the case dropped? What is the political impact of this diplomatic win? The sailors were arrested in 2022. All of them worked for the same company—Dahra Global—in Doha. Qatar did not reveal the charges against them, nor did India, but media reports said it was espionage. Apparently, they were spying for Israel.

In the months that followed, India got consular access to them, and New Delhi tried to get them released. But no luck; in October 2023, the sailors were sentenced to death. India decided to appeal that verdict, and then in early December, a key meeting happened. PM Modi and Qatar’s Emir were in Dubai; both were attending the COP28 Summit. They held a brief discussion on the sidelines. Chances are this issue was discussed. But did it work? Well, later that month, the death sentence was reversed. Around 50 days later, the sailors are back, so I guess the Dubai conversation did work. But we don’t know how the sailors were released. Was it a court decision to free them? Or was it a pardon by the Emir? The foreign secretary refused to answer that question. But chances are, it was a pardon. Qatar’s Emir issues pardons twice a year. Most of the freed prisoners are foreigners. India’s statement vaguely hints at this: “We appreciate the decision by the Amir of the State of Qatar to enable the release and home-coming of these nationals.” Either way, it was a political call—Qatari courts don’t randomly release alleged spies—not unless the Emir tells them to, but this success goes beyond just one short interaction in Dubai. It is the result of a sustained policy of genuine outreach to the Muslim world. Now is the perfect time to talk about it. On Tuesday, the prime minister embarked on a foreign tour to the UAE and Qatar. In the UAE, he will inaugurate a massive Hindu temple. In Qatar, he will meet the emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Think of it as a gratitude tour, and that’s been a feature of India’s outreach. It has come at the highest level of government. Prime Minister Modi has visited the UAE six times. Two of those visits came in the last eight months. He has visited Saudi Arabia twice and Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, and Qatar once. This will be his second trip to Qatar. These relationships have been mutually beneficial. India is the third-largest oil consumer in the world. So it is a key market for Gulf nations. Then you have the around nine million diaspora who live and work in the Gulf. They are holding up local economies, and trade and investments are also important. The India-UAE trade is around 85 billion dollars. The India-Qatar trade is worth 20 billion dollars, and a big chunk of that is liquefied natural gas. Around 48 percent of India’s LNG imports are from Qatar. Last week, both sides renewed a deal: India will keep importing LNG from Qatar until 2048. It’s a massive energy deal worth $78 billion. So there is a strong foundation for diplomatic ties. Yes, personal outreach has helped, but the underlying foundation is sizeable trade, solid investments, and a large diaspora. It’s what we call a win-win relationship. The Gulf gets a reliable customer. India gets a foothold in a geopolitically significant region. Plus, it’s a political statement; Western media has questioned the safety of Muslims in India, but the same Indian government is celebrated in the Gulf. PM Modi has received civilian honours from multiple nations there, like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Palestine. That investment has clearly paid off because Qatar takes espionage very seriously, and spying for Israel is a one-way ticket to the gallows. So this release is a big diplomatic win for India—a victory for quiet and mature diplomacy. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost_’s views._ Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .