Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Dr. Sudesh Dhankhar are welcomed on their arrival in Doha by Qatar’s Minister of State Sheikh Fahad bin Faisal Al-Thani on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: Twitter/VPSecretariat

Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar arrived in Doha on Sunday to signify India on the inauguration of the FIFA World Cup, at the same time as relations of the eight retired Indian naval officers imprisoned in Qatar, have stepped up requires the federal government to intervene of their launch.

The former officers, who’ve been in custody for greater than 80 days, have had some contact with their households and a Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official had travelled to Doha for consular entry in October, however there is no such thing as a phrase on their launch at current. Neither the MEA nor the Vice-President’s workplace commented on whether or not the problem will likely be raised by Mr. Dhankhar in the course of the go to.

“Looking forward to the opening ceremony of the mega sporting event FIFA World Cup and interactions with the Indian community,” the Vice-President’s workplace stated in a tweet after his arrival in Doha just a few hours earlier than the opening ceremony of the Football World Cup.

“The Vice-President’s visit would be an opportunity to join a close and friendly country Qatar as it hosts a major sporting event and also to acknowledge the role played and support extended by Indians in this World Cup,” the MEA stated in a press release previous to the Vice-President’s departure, that additionally stated he was visiting on an invite from Qatar Amir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

The authorities has to this point not commented on the fees for which the eight males, together with seven retired officers, had been detained. The males labored for a Qatari firm, ‘Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services’, and had been concerned in coaching the Qatari Navy and serving to in upkeep and logistics. 

Dahra Global’s Managing Director Retd. Commander Purnendu Tiwari has been based mostly in Qatar for a number of years and in 2019 acquired the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman from former President Ramnath Kovind for his work in “enhancing India’s image abroad” and “his contribution towards capacity building for the Qatar Emiri Naval Forces, thereby promoting India-Qatar bilateral cooperation”, the Indian Embassy in Qatar’s social media pages stated on the time, commending him as the primary Indian Armed Forces personnel to be awarded the very best honour meant for NRIs / PIOs.

Also learn: FIFA World Cup 2022 | India shines with thousands of expat volunteers, fans and tourists in Qatar

Reacting on Twitter on Sunday, Dr. Meetu Bhargava, who has been recognized as a relative of Commander Tiwari (Retd.) stated that the “physical and mental health” of the personnel detained in “illegal solitary cell confinement” in Doha is “deteriorating fast”. “It is high time that they all are immediately repatriated to India,” Ms. Bhargava added. 

According to sources, it’s unclear if there can be a “structured meeting” between Mr. Dhankhar and the Qatari management throughout his two-day go to, stressing that the problem of the detained Indians was being pursued diplomatically already.

On Monday, Mr. Dhankhar is because of deal with the Indian group in Doha earlier than returning to Delhi, introduced the MEA, including, “People-to-people ties form an important element of bilateral relationship with over 840,000 Indians in Qatar.”

At a press briefing on November 10, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had stated that the federal government is “following this case very closely”. “Our Embassy in Doha is in regular touch with the local authorities… there was one round of consular access there and [the Embassy is] also trying to get a visit by family members of the detained Indian nationals there.” However, he declined to “speculate” on the authorized points concerned, or whether or not the ‘”particular person consular points” would affect India and Qatar relations. 

Reacting to the experiences of their incarceration, former Navy Chief Admiral Arun Prakash (Retd.) had stated on Twitter that the solitary confinement of the previous officers by Qatar was “inappropriate” for a pleasant neighbouring nation, and the officers ought to have been repatriated if vital. “Perhaps time to review Indian Navy-Qatari Navy relations & joint naval exercise “Zair-al-Bahr,” he added.