Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday (Feb 15) thanked Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani for release of eight Indian national. The eight persons were arrested in August 2022 and were later handed death sentence. PM Modi’s talks with Qatari Emir were aimed at expanding India-Qatar ties in areas of trade, energy, investment and new technology.
At a media briefing, India’s Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said that PM Modi thanked the Emir for his support for the welfare of the Indian community in the Gulf nation.
“The prime minister thanked the Emir for his support for the welfare of the Indian community, and in this regard, expressed his deep appreciation to the Emir for the release of eight Indian nationals of Al-Dahra company. We are extremely gratified to see them back in India,” Kwatra said.
Modi was in Qatar after his two-day visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The Indian sailors were handed death sentence in October last year. In December, the death sentence was commuted to jail sentences of varying terms.
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Although the sailors faced charges of espionage, neither India or Qatar made the specifics public.
During the latest meeting between the two leaders, they held discussion on number of aspects of bilateral co-operation like trade partnership, co-operation in investment, ties in the energy field.
Kwatra said that the leaders spoke about need for strategic investments and strategic partnerships in the fields of energy and technology.
The foreign secretary said Modi’s visit to Doha laid the basis for taking India-Qatar relationship to a much higher level across various domains. The two sides are looking at using investment as a vehicle to build long-term strategic partnership.
India and Qatar are looking at broadbasing trade baskets to link it to regional trade, he said.
Prime Minister Modi also invited Emir Hamad Al-Thani to visit India, Kwatra added.
(With inputs from agencies)
