DIPLOMATIC WIN

 

 

 

 

 

THE decision of an appellate court in Qatar to commute death sentence of eight former personnel of the Indian Navy (in employment of a private firm post-retirement) points to India’s capable handling of the diplomatic challenge involved in the case. Working patiently and systematically, Indian leadership worked its way around a lot of difficult obstacles to present a firm point of view that the eight Indian arrested under espionage law of Qatar could not be held guilty of the charge, and that all of them deserved a deeper and compassionate listening-to. These efforts finally succeeded with the Qatar appellate court agreeing with the point of view and reducing the sentence of all the eight men. This is welcome development -- from the point of view of the current Indian leadership as well as for the Indian nation. What was involved in this episode was not just eight Indian persons, but also an entire range of issues encompassing the overall bilateral relations between India and Qatar. When a Qatar court gave the death sentence to the eight persons held for loosely-levelled espionage charges, a clamour went up in Indian political space that the leadership was proving itself to be incompetent.

 

In Particular, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi was accused of not doing anything to ensure release of the eight persons not just from the Qatar prison but also from the clutches of sure death. Since the Prime Minister did not openly say a word about the episode, the accusation got a greater weight -- that he was not concerned about the safety and security of the eight Indian Navy personnel. The Opposition appeared hell bent on proving that Mr. Narendra Modi’s so-called diplomatic success was just a bubble -- that would soon burst. Nothing of that sort happened, though. For, even when he did not speak a word about the episode, the Prime Minister was actually and personally masterminding a well-focused diplomatic initiative with a view to helping the unfortunate eight to escape the sentence. He directed the Indian Mission in Qatar to provide to the eight Indian accused every possible legal and even consular assistance while contesting the sentence. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister held detailed discussions with Qatar’s leadership on the sidelines of an international gathering, and tweeted that he was satisfied with the overall tone and tenor of the discussion -- without any specific mention of the espionage case. That meeting did give an indirect assurance that the Prime Minister was at it personally and a solution may soon emerge.

 

Exactly that happened in due course of time. The slow and patient work of Indian diplomats under the Prime Minister’s direct leadership made all the difference. Mr. Narendra Modi did not respond to the criticism against him, but guided the diplomatic action patiently and quietly. The case is yet not fully over, but there are provisions in the law that can help in having the entire case either dropped or disposed of without sentence. Some provisions also can help in shifting the accused to Indian prisons to serve their jail terms. The Ministry of External Affairs will work out the details to a logical culmination -- much to everybody’s satisfaction, proving the efficacy of the country’s diplomatic prowess and finesse - made possible by the polished culture foreign policy managers have developed over time. The world has seen in the past some years that India’s diplomatic community has developed fine capabilities of handling all types of challenges in all domains -- across ideologies and cultures and geographies. Led by Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, Indian diplomacy has now become an effective ecosystem that can stand up to any challenge and sort it out as per national interest -- which is to be hailed.