Arindam Bagchi | Business Upturn

Indian ambassador met 8 ex-Navy officers sentenced to death in Qatar, says MEA

Uddeshya Thakur — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 20:19:01 +0000

There is new hope in the efforts to get life for 8 former sailors of Indian origin who were sentenced to death in Qatar. On Thursday, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the government was closely monitoring the case and providing all legal and consular assistance to them. He also met all the victims on December 3. Bagchi also said that two hearings have been held in the case and an appeal against the death sentence has already been filed.

#WATCH | MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi says, "You would have seen Prime Minister Modi meet Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad, the Amir of Qatar in Dubai on the sidelines of CoP28. They've had a good conversation on the overall bilateral relationship as well as in the well-being of the… pic.twitter.com/PfcBKtKvnm

— ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2023

Sentenced for espionage on 26 October 2023

It is noteworthy that yesterday in Qatar, 8 Indian former marines Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Captain Saurabh Vashishtha, Commander Amit Nagpal, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta and another named Ragesh were sentenced to death. According to reports, after retiring from the Navy, all of them were working in Doha-based technology and consultancy service provider company Al Dahra. In 2022, Khamis Al Azmi, a retired Oman Air Force squadron leader who was running the company along with all of them, was arrested on some serious charges. He was released from jail on bail in November 2022, but later on 29 March 2023, the case trial started against him. Now, on 26 October 2023, all of them were given death sentences by the court for espionage. The Government of India objected to this decision and worked towards exploring all legal options.

At present, a new ray of hope is visible in this matter every day. Talking about this, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, while giving information about the meeting with the victimised ex-marines on Thursday, said that the government, which has vowed to save these important citizens of the country at any cost, is keeping a close watch on this. . Two hearings have taken place in the case so far after an appeal was filed against the sentence.

PM Modi also talked bilaterally in COP28

Bagchi said in Thursday’s press conference, “The prisoners had a final appeal. We filed an appeal on behalf of the families and since then 2 hearings have taken place. We are closely monitoring the matter and providing all legal and consular assistance. Meanwhile, our Ambassador got consular access to meet all 8 of them in jail on 3 December. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad in Dubai on the sidelines of COP28 and spoke positively about bilateral relations. The Ministry of External Affairs is attaching high importance to the matter and is exploring all legal options.”

Making all efforts to help detained Indian ex-navy officers in Qatar: MEA

United News of India (UNI) — Thu, 13 Apr 2023 12:57:53 +0000

New Delhi, Apr 13: The Ministry of External Affairs said today that it is making all efforts to assist the eight former Indian Navy officers who have been detained in Qatar since August last year, and that while the legal process against the men has begun the charges have not been made public yet.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, answering a query on the issue, said that the case of the detained men “is now in the legal process”.
“Let me emphasis that we are making all efforts to assist the Indians detained and we are also extending consular and legal assistance as part of the legal process; we are also engaged with the Qatari authorities.”

He said the Indian Embassy in Doha is in touch with the families of the detained men.

Bagchi said the last date of hearing was March 29, and the next date is in early May. “We are trying to see what can be done before that in connection with the hearing,” he added.

Asked if the charges against the detained Indians is known, he said: ”My understanding is the charges have not been unsealed, it’s not been made public, but as the legal process unfolds perhaps they will be. We’re keeping an eye on that.”

According to reports, the men were working for Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services, a private firm owned by an Oman Air Force officer. They were picked up by officials of Qatar’s interior ministry on August 30 last year. They were detained on unspecified charges and have been kept in solitary confinement.

Their bail pleas were rejected eight times by Qatari authorities.

India: Involving 3rd parties in CPEC will invite action

United News of India (UNI) — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 11:38:44 +0000

New Delhi, July 26: India on Tuesday slammed as “inherently illegal and unacceptable” a move by Pakistan and China to invite a third country participation in the CPEC project in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, saying it is illegitimate as the territory is under illegal occupation of Islamabad.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a $60 billion flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) of the Chinese government that is promoted by President Xi Jinping and it passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

There are reports that Pakistan and China are preparing to welcome “interested” third countries. To join their multi-billion dollar project being laid through PoK.

“We have seen reports on encouraging a proposed participation of third countries in so-called CPEC projects,” Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said reacting to queries regarding participation of third countries in the CPEC.

“Any such actions by any party directly infringe on India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“India firmly and consistently opposes projects in the so-called CPEC. Which are in Indian territory that has been illegally occupied by Pakistan. Such activities are inherently illegal, illegitimate and unacceptable, and will be treated accordingly by India,” he added.

China and Pakistan met last week virtually. When the CPEC Joint Working Group invited third parties saying it is “an open and inclusive platform”. For mutually beneficial cooperation. It was the third meeting of the CPEC JWG on International Cooperation and Coordination.

(Except for the headline. This story has not been edited by Business Upturn staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

India rejects OIC’s “narrow minded” comments

United News of India (UNI) — Mon, 06 Jun 2022 08:28:22 +0000

New Delhi, June 6: India on Monday accused the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) of making “motivated, misleading and mischievous comments” and said New Delhi categorically rejects the “unwarranted and narrow-minded comments”.

External Affairs Ministry official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said: “We have seen the statement on India from the General Secretariat of OIC. The Government of India accords the highest respect to all religions.

“The offensive tweets and comments denigrating a religious personality were made by certain individuals. They do not, in any manner, reflect the views of the government of India. Strong action has already been taken against these individuals by relevant bodies,” he said.

“It is regrettable that OIC Secretariat has yet again chosen to make motivated, misleading and mischievous comments. This only exposes its divisive agenda being pursued at the behest of vested interests.

“We would urge the OIC Secretariat to stop pursuing its communal approach and show due respect to all faiths and religions,” the spokesperson added.

The OIC had commented on BJP spokespersons Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal against Prophet Mohammad and his wife. Both were sacked from the party on Sunday.

Several countries including Qatar, Kuwait, Iran and Saudi Arabia had strongly reacted to the statements by the BJP spokespersons.

The OIC had observed that the incident had occurred against the backdrop of increasing anti-Muslim activities in India.

Japanese PM Fumio Kishida meets PM Modi, discusses economic & cultural linkages

Himanshu Mishra — Sat, 19 Mar 2022 12:41:19 +0000

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday met his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at the Hyderabad House in Delhi.

Modi and Kishida held fruitful conversations during which means to improve economic and cultural linkages between the two nations were talking about, the Prime Minister’s Office announced in a tweet.

MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi took to microblogging site and wrote, “The 14th Annual Summit gets followed with a meeting between PM @narendramodi and Japanese PM @kishida230. Another step aimed at advancing the India-Japan partnership – a partnership for peace, prosperity and progress!”

Kishida reached India earlier on Saturday for his foremost visit to the nation as the head of government. He will depart from Delhi on Sunday morning.

Kishida is expected to declare a proposal to invest 5 trillion yen ($42 billion) in India over the next five years during his first diplomatic visit to the country since assuming office. Kishida is possibly going to declare the public-private funding plan during the 14th India-Japan Annual Summit, Nikkei Asia reported.

In his two-day visit to India, the Japanese Prime Minister is also going to approve a nearly 300 billion yen loan during his meeting with PM Modi, according to Japanese media agency Nikkei. An energy cooperation document relating to carbon reduction is also possible to be signed.

India advises its stranded citizens to leave Kyiv urgently

Mymun Malik — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 09:10:03 +0000

The Indian embassy in its official statement mentioned that the Ukraine Railways will run special trains for safely evacuating Indians out of Kyiv. Earlier Indian embassy had asked Indians to leave Ukraine temporarily in its first directorate on 15th February.

Same-day in New Delhi addressing a press conference, Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) revealed that close to 2000 Indian nationals were in the capital city of Kyiv, these were mostly medical students studying in various universities in Ukraine.

In their Twitter post, the Indian Embassy urged all Indian nationals to immediately without any further delay to evacuate from Kyiv and other parts of the region ‘today’, by the special trains in operation by the Ukrainian railways or any other safe possible means.

On Tuesday the Indian embassy asked its nationals to urgently leave Kyiv as the Russian troops are coming straight to Kyiv in a heavily loaded military convoy including Russian tanks and other offensive equipment.

Arindam Bagchi also requested the Indian Nationals to move to the western region of Ukraine from Kyiv. Already 400 Indian students have been evacuated through Indian operations efforts.