A local court in Qatar handing down the death penalty to eight former officers of the Indian Navy who were employed there in critical sectors on charges of espionage is sure to test the nerves of the government given the sensitivities involved in the case and India’s claims of an ascendancy in its stature of late.
The eight persons now convicted were reportedly working for a private company which serves the Qatari security establishment. Apparently, the government here has no direct involvement in what these former defence personnel, or for that matter, an Indian citizen, would do abroad. However, India’s mission in the friendly country was constantly engaged in the case, as per reports.
India and Qatar are two prominent players in the current global stage. India, from Independence, was respected not for its financial or military powers but as a spokesperson of the Third World and wielded a moral authority. The Non-Aligned Movement was a smart way of asserting the identity of the developing world and exerting soft power and India played a key role in its formation and development. India today is the world’s most populous nation and is an economic and military power. The negotiating skills India acquired from the times of NAM have helped it navigate tricky situations, including the war in Ukraine and the G-20 summit, while upholding the national interest.
Qatar is one of the tiniest nations with hardly a population of three million — its citizens make up only one eighth of its population—and is also one of the richest, making it a prominent regional and global player. The soft power it wields is due to its huge reserves of natural gas, its presence in the media space and the ability to call political shots in the region. Like the India of the initial decades, it keeps every power bloc in good humour. The country which hosts a US military base often appears as mediators on behalf of militant and religionist outfits such as the Taliban and Hamas. It may be noted that there are critics who allege that Qatar is capable of triggering political instability in the region, and the Jasmine Revolution which sought “installation of democracy” in the Arab world had its tacit support. There are even critics who claim that the country torpedoes peace initiatives in West Asia as long as it is not a part of it. A reading linking the charge of espionage for Israel and the recent developments in Gaza is also possible.
India will have to sit with Qatar on equal terms given the power equations and the fluid political climate in the region. That India has historic ties with Arab nations, that it is a big customer of Qatar’s natural gas and that close to seven lakh Indians work there should factor in helping the Indian government get an entry into a case which is essentially decided by the judiciary there. India will have to pull every lever and put to use every layer of friendship in the region to get its citizens off the gallows.
