Efforts on to free them: Jaishankar to kin of 8 Indians on death row in Qatar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday met the family members of eight former Indian Navy personnel, who have been sentenced to death by a Qatari court, and assured them that the government will make all efforts to secure their release.

Jaishankar told them that the government attaches the "highest importance" to the case and fully shares their "concerns and pain".

The eight former Indian Navy personnel were on Thursday sentenced to death by Qatar's court of first instance, a ruling described as "deeply" shocking by India which vowed to explore all legal options in the case.

"Met this morning with the families of the 8 Indians detained in Qatar. Stressed that the Government attaches the highest importance to the case. Fully share the concerns and pain of the families," Jaishankar said on 'X'.

"Underlined that government will continue to make all efforts to secure their release. Will coordinate closely with the families in that regard," he said.

When asked about the Qatari court order against the former Indian Navy personnel, Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar said in Panaji that the Union government is making every effort to ensure relief for them.

"Every effort is being made by the (Union) government to ensure we find relief for our personnel. We have heard the MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) statement on this," he told reporters on the sidelines of an event.

The Indian nationals, who worked with private company Al Dahra, were arrested in August last year reportedly in an alleged case of espionage. Neither the Qatari authorities nor New Delhi made the charges against the Indian nationals public.

In its reaction to the ruling by the Qatari court, the ministry of external affairs said on Thursday that it is attaching "high importance" to this case and is exploring all legal options.

"We are deeply shocked by the verdict of death penalty and are awaiting the detailed judgement. We are in touch with the family members and the legal team, and we are exploring all legal options," the MEA had said.

"We attach high importance to this case and have been following it closely. We will continue to extend all consular and legal assistance. We will also take up the verdict with Qatari authorities," it said.

The charges were filed against the eight Indian Navy veterans on March 25 and they were tried under Qatari law.

All of the former Navy officers had "unblemished stints" of up to 20 years in the Indian Navy and had held important positions including that of instructors in the force, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.