External affairs minister S. Jaishankar on Monday met the families of the eight retired naval personnel sentenced to death last week by a court in Qatar on charges that have not yet been made public officially.

Media reports have suggested that the eight Indians were arrested in August 2022 for spying on Qatar’s submarine project for Israel but there has never been an official confirmation.

"Met this morning with the families of the 8 Indians detained in Qatar. Stressed that Government attaches the highest importance to the case. Fully share the concerns and pain of the families. Underlined that Government will continue to make all efforts to secure their release. Will coordinate closely with the families in that regard,’’ Jaishankar said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) after his meeting with the family members.

There was no mention of the death sentence in his post. The meeting took place after the families sought the intervention of the Prime Minister in the hope that he could directly approach the Amir of Qatar since the Arab country allows the head of state to pardon convicts on Qatar’s National Day which falls on December 18.

In case the clemency route is adopted, an agreement signed between New Delhi and Doha in 2015 for the transfer of sentenced prisoners can be invoked to allow the naval veterans to serve the remaining part of the jail term in India. Referring to this agreement, former Chief of Naval Staff Arun Prakash posted on X that "sentence of IN Veterans must be commuted or pardon obtained & this agreement invoked".

The eight veterans include a naval captain and commander-level officers besides a sailor. All eight were working for Al Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services, a defence services providing company owned by an ex-Omani Air Force officer. The company provided training and other services to Qatar’s armed forces and security agencies.