India-Qatar Fallout: News & Discussion

[SRajesh]

Maybe this is Qatari way of saying to India : Do not get involved in Gaza issue!
Or just using the ME conflict to settle some scores with NaMo(just checking the 56 inches) and that too before the election year
Eyeran or no Eyeran getting involved given Unkil has started bombing Eyeranian trainees now What will Blinken say now (given peoples comment of Deep state parking in Qatar)
These people have been in custody for ??1 year, probably the dispensation are well aware but not willing to publicise given sensitive nature(as EAM said)
Will this be like K Jhadav issue, making the families to force government to take some steps which they would not have.
Also a question to Rakesh : what's with the retired naval staff going into such secret private business that puts their life in danger and has the potential of dragging in the state to face some uncomfortable scenarios.
I mean these chaps are not NCO's and probably commanded frontline ships/pandubbi's. What gives???

[skaranam]

Encourage the Saudis to annex Qatar.
UAE / Saudi benefits as support for Houthis is removed.
Palestine support is gone
Iran losses a Pole position in ME
US can still retain presence in the area.
IMEI pipeline can be revived

[Deans]

sudeepj, that would be enough fantasy about taking on a country hosting CENTCOM foreward HQ using Indian Navy etc. Please post analysis that makes sense.

Nair ji, I am glad you called out these unrealistic options. Some points we need to understand:

1. We need Qatar's gas more than Qatar needs us. Due to Russian sanctions, there are more than enough customers who will readily buy at higher
rates than our long term contract with Qatar (which they are honoring, though global prices have shot up).
2. We also need remittances from 7 lac Indians. Qatar can replace them more easily than they can find alternate jobs.
3. We don't know what the charges are, or what GOI is doing about it. I don't think we need to question their willingness to protect Indian lives
and interests.
4. The Qatar-Saudi spat is basically a spat between the women of 2 royal families. When there is an external threat, Arabs will stick together.
(both are currently united against Israel for e.g.).
5. Adm Arun Prakash has an anti Govt agenda (in any other country, he would have been sacked after his son in laws was indicted in the
Naval war room leak case). The arrangement with Qatar he cites, is not applicable to the death penalty. Indians have been executed in the
Gulf earlier and we have not intervened.

[chetak]

sudeepj, that would be enough fantasy about taking on a country hosting CENTCOM foreward HQ using Indian Navy etc. Please post analysis that makes sense.

Nair ji, I am glad you called out these unrealistic options. Some points we need to understand:

1. We need Qatar's gas more than Qatar needs us. Due to Russian sanctions, there are more than enough customers who will readily buy at higher
rates than our long term contract with Qatar (which they are honoring, though global prices have shot up).
2. We also need remittances from 7 lac Indians. Qatar can replace them more easily than they can find alternate jobs.
3. We don't know what the charges are, or what GOI is doing about it. I don't think we need to question their willingness to protect Indian lives
and interests.
4. The Qatar-Saudi spat is basically a spat between the women of 2 royal families. When there is an external threat, Arabs will stick together.
(both are currently united against Israel for e.g.).
5. Adm Arun Prakash has an anti Govt agenda (in any other country, he would have been sacked after his son in laws was indicted in the Naval war room leak case). The arrangement with Qatar he cites, is not applicable to the death penalty. Indians have been executed in the Gulf earlier and we have not intervened.

Deans ji,

the treasonous traitor is his nephew, his wife's something something relative

prakash is a cashmeri and all that the word entails

there are a bunch of such ex military anti India clowns and most have imagined grievances or are simply woke

[madhu]

Is this to arm twist India to support Palestine/hamas? Israel asking India to ban HAMAS and declare it as terrorist organization. Qatar cannot take on US as its security is in hands of US, it cant take on Israel coz it is more close to US than Qatar more over it has no stomach/power to take on Israel. Russia and China are on HAMAS side but not India. But most important thing is for some reason Modi is afraid of Qatar and bends backward more than requited. This is evident form Nupur issue where Qatar was afraid of Wheat ban so made most noise on Nupur case.

Second point is Indian people (Hindus) are bursting lies of HAMAS against Israel and twitting for Israel condemning HAMAS. This act will divert all Indians towards its navy person rather than Israel.

Funniest issue here is these navy is spying for Israel as if Israel needs some 3rd person for spying.

[Aditya_V]

Or is Qatar batting for Pakistan, lot of Paki terrorists are being eliminated recently, do the Paki Qatar alliance wants to go slow on this, funny how Owasi and INC are jumping in glee over this.

[isubodh]

The # of Indians living in Canada is 3X that of Indians in Qatar. They send same/more money home as remittances than what the diaspora in Qatar does. If we can show these White-Pakis their place (them being even more closer to the Anglo world than Qataris), then we can do the same to Qatar as well.

The biggest difference is Canada will not bring up a new law that is totally discriminatory and ask all Bhartiya to leave, Qatar can, there court trail was was a close secret.

This is where a democracy and dictator differ.

[madhu]

Or is Qatar batting for Pakistan

i doubt anyone care for pakis. even paki generals do not care for them. we need to check if any contracts/deals coming up for which Qatar is not sure of getting or thinks India could armtwist them.

[KL Dubey]

The sentence was handed out by the lowest court. The Bharat sarkar will explore legal options. No need to start reading world domination conspiracies into this case.

As I have said before:

1) ex services personnel should have to seek permission to work for non indian employers, and should be granted only in exceptional circumstances.

2) need proactive policies to avoid emigration of indians to doubtful countries that dont guarantee rights

3) help air india wipe out the gelf carriers

No need to think of wasting ammunition, naval blockades, etc against these small fry until all other options fail.

[sanman]

The biggest difference is Canada will not bring up a new law that is totally discriminatory and ask all Bhartiya to leave, Qatar can, there court trail was was a close secret.

This is where a democracy and dictator differ.

Let the Qataris bring in such laws - and let them do their own dishes, their own laundry, their own cooking & cleaning.
They don't hire Indians for charity, they hire them for the work they do.

Even if they hire Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Flipinos instead, we'll at least be freed up from having to bend over for them.

[eklavya]

1) ex services personnel should have to seek permission to work for non indian employers, and should be granted only in exceptional circumstances.

Ex services personnel should not be able to work abroad on military related work, such as a foreign country’s submarine programme.

Also, I find it hard to understand how all 8 are involved in whatever they are accused of being involved in. Why would Israel need 8 of them for information.

Also, why would anyone pass on secrets while they are still in the foreign country.

This whole thing doesn’t add up.

[vimal]

Ok back to the case.
We are preparing for world war without even knowing the basic information.

Why were 8 ex-naval personnel working in Qatar?
Were they spying for another country? Which one?

[VKumar]

Suppose they were tempted to reveal Qatari secrets to Israel. What should be the penalty? After all, Qatar did give them a responsible task that provided access to secrets.
If they have betrayed Qatari trust then they have damaged India and Indians.

[sanman]

Has Pak advised Qataris to pull a Kulbhushan Jhadav on us?



It's SuckerPunch season. Every Trudeau and Emir is lining up to take shots at us.
Not that Blinken or Sullivan care.
They're more likely to issue some public call for us to "cooperate with any investigation"

[Rakesh]

No need to think of wasting ammunition, naval blockades, etc against these small fry until all other options fail.

Thank you for posting this and putting some clarity into the discussion. The ones arguing for striking Qatar right at the get go, were the same posters who were arguing for India getting into a military alliance with the US.

The flip-flop fantasies some people live in are truly amazing.

[sudeepj]

No need to think of wasting ammunition, naval blockades, etc against these small fry until all other options fail.

Thank you for posting this and putting some clarity into the discussion. The ones arguing for striking Qatar right at the get go, were the same posters who were arguing for India getting into a military alliance with the US.

The flip-flop fantasies some people live in are truly amazing.

When the facts and the situation change, I change my mind, unlike some others who havent had a new thought since they were born. From 1998 to 2023, their stance has been the same!

One could argue, that many of these issues are happening today because we refused an alliance, and refused to even string along the Americans. Just like Nehru refused to play along with Churchill and stuck to his soviet/left wing fantasies. Could he not have pretended to be more pro-Brit to avoid a partition?

Be that as it may, now that the battle lines are clearing up, what side I am on is also clear. Same side I was on then, and arguing to take a position that accrued the most advantage to my side in my own judgement.

In my judgement, at some point in time, India will have to start 'reacting' disproportionately. The US is in a precarious position in the middle east right now. They cant afford to alienate us in addition to so many others. If Qatar murders these men, we should talk to the Qataris in a language they understand. Yes, other avenues should be tried out first. But a blockade of Qatari LNG out of a narrow channel, 1000nm away from our home base should be seriously considered.

[sudeepj]

sudeepj, that would be enough fantasy about taking on a country hosting CENTCOM foreward HQ using Indian Navy etc. Please post analysis that makes sense.

Nair ji, I am glad you called out these unrealistic options. Some points we need to understand:


2. We also need remittances from 7 lac Indians. Qatar can replace them more easily than they can find alternate jobs.

Let me just comment on this aspect.. Indians habitually take a supplicant position in a matter of fair trade of services and goods. Both Qataris and Indians are benefiting here. Qataris are not doing Indians any favors! A non political, peaceful, professional, young workforce, that is eager to work - is not easy to find in the world today. Every world leading company has Indians running it from the lowermost rung to the highest. They are as dependent on us as we think are on them.

We should think that having access to the Indian labor pool is a privilege, not a right! And we should begin to use this as leverage.

With the internationally connected nature of work, if the labor does not 'go there', the economic activity shall 'move here'.

Get out of the 80s mindset of remittances!

[Deans]

We should think that having access to the Indian labor pool is a privilege, not a right! And we should begin to use this as leverage.

With the internationally connected nature of work, if the labor does not 'go there', the economic activity shall 'move here'.

Get out of the 80s mindset of remittances!

I agree our mindset must change. In the last 30 years I have seen the perception of Indian abroad change significantly.
We need to get millions of people into manufacturing, or construction , or into services like tourism, but that is not happening fast enough.

The reality is that we are still a poor country, we have high unemployment, or under employment. A lot of our workforce is only qualified to do
low level jobs - though in the Gulf we are a level higher than for e.g. Pakistani workers. We also import more than we export, so worker
remittances are a way of reducing unemployment and easing our balance of payments.

That said, for Indians in the Gulf we should look at the following:
1. Move recruitment to other states, instead of traditional ones like Kerala. That can be done if Govt becomes the agency to supply labor to
Govt departments in the Gulf (they will agree if no commission is charged to the employer). The average worker in Kerala will want more wages
than someone in Bangladesh, but the average person in east UP may agree to a lower wage. This can increase India's overall workforce in the
Gulf at the expense of our neighbors.
2. Indian owned firms in the Gulf employing people from unfriendly countries (e.g. Pak) should be subject to sanctions on their operations in
India (e.g. Lulu).
3. Clamp down on dubious agents. Blacklist employers who ill treat our workers (immigration clearance not given if your job is with a blacklisted
employer).
4. Far better control over where retired senior defense officers are allowed to work.

[Deans]

Ok back to the case.
We are preparing for world war without even knowing the basic information.

Why were 8 ex-naval personnel working in Qatar?
Were they spying for another country? Which one?

Let me be the Devil's advocate:

The `Stealth' submarine Qatar was supposed to be buying from Italy, does not exist as yet.
Could these ex Navy personnel all have worked on IN submarines ? If they passed on info to a foreign power while in India, they would be guilty of treason. Far more convenient to employ them in a front company abroad, where they can be debriefed on what they knew about IN subs.
I am from a Navy family and would hate to think this was the case (nor would the Indian public), but it is not something that can be ruled out.

If at all Israel needed details of sub stealth tech, US would have briefed them on it. They would not let NATO tech be used against Israel.
The spying for Israel charge can greatly harm relations with Israel.

[chetak]

Is this the second attack on India by amriki proxy.

The first was the kaneda issue, complete with 5eyes backing but seems like it is fizzling out.

and, now this..................

both proxies are amriki doormats and house ni**ers..... coincidence much...

[Cyrano]

It may have nothing to do with subs.

By arresting them, putting in solitary confinement, refusing consular access, now death sentence in a secret trial presumably without proper consular aid and legal representation all point to one thing. Qatar doesn't want to let their side of the story to be made public.

What's such a big deal about a sub design that Qatar which has no experience and no fleet suddenly starts posing such a threat that Israelis put Indian "spies" on the job right under their own and scent-kam noses, all 8 of them on the same job?! This story holds as much water as a Qatari pile of sand used to rub their bums from the time they realised bums need sand rubbing.

Then why does Qatar want to silence these 8 sailors at any cost, even if it means to take on India - a huge customer, partner, supplier and a rising power even it's own scent-kam weilding aaka cannot influence much less subdue these days?

Antagonise India just to please paakis? Or the Chinese who are johnny come lately in this part of the world? That doesn't make much sense either.

My guess/hunch is gas guzzling power drunk Qatari brains have tried to get hold of some nuclear material / warheads / missiles - not tech but ready to use stuff - from somewhere (at least 4 or 5 possibilities come to mind) and go one up on the bugbear Saudis and Unkil and everyone else. Illogical yes, but that's what power drunk gas guzzling brains do. They overreach with arrogance, khujli in nether zones and short-sightedness.

And somehow, by curiosity or accident or intentionally one or few of our sailors stumbled upon such transfer of nuclear materials and or nuclear weapons. They may have recorded some evidence on their phones, shared among themselves or with ex colleagues back in India for confirmation to be sure what they saw and thought is what it is.

Qatar wants this suppressed but more importantly it doesn't want to acknowledge that it was caught and therefore lose what it has freshly acquired.

Therefore they have to silence these 8 sailors, plus put maximum pressure they can on India to return/destroy/bury the evidence it has. Hence this sudden and secretive sentecing.

Nothing else I've come across so far seems a better explanation or better guess work.

But I could be totally wrong, or not, who knows?

[vimal]

^^ This line of reasoning seem more plausible. The secret tech might have been a dirty bomb from desperate Pakis. I won’t be surprised if Kulbhshan Jadhav case isn’t related to this.

[NRao]

All the Israelis had to do was ask the Italians!!!

[Suresh S]

I agree with suddepj,s . It is not some armchair general thinking, Nothing wrong with blockade of these qatari chut@yas LNG export from the gulf.
Absolutely as the external affair ministry said we will try all reasonable options first including legal channels and behind the scene negotiations. From all public information available these naval personnel are being used as a lever to pressurize India either by Turkey or USA or both. And whether pakis and Iranians are also mixed up with this is not entirely implausible.

If Qatar dares to murder these Indian defense personnel I absolutely would not let these Bast@rds get away without the kind of damage that will make a would be copycat Country think 10 times before trying the same nonsense in the future against us.

And if these people try to harm Indians in qatar a military strike against these people has to be on the table.

And please stop reading this madrasa math that we are a poor country. India,s GDP on PPP basis is already over 13 trillion dollars. and in the next less than 10 yrs it is going to double and nothing can stop it.Just to let u know boss USA is bankrupt and this US dollar is going to crash in the coming years , the kind u have never seen before. It is totally within reason that in the next 5-10 yrs at most the value of US dollars is going to fall at least 1/2 and can be even 2/3 rd and what affect this will have on India,s GDP measured in US dollars u can easily calculate. It is this simple fact no body will tell but it is looking at u. It is these facts which have these country,s especially goras knickers in a twist.

They will never tell u this in the MSM but simple math based on what I just told u, u can easily figure out that the trajectory India is on right now it will become the largest economy in the world in the next 20-25 years measured in any way u want. When I was growing up in India no body cared two hoots about India whether we were living or dying. Today even if we do nothing they must bother us because of what is inevitably coming and coming sooner than most people think. Goras will never admit this but recently in an unguarded moment former CEO of CISCO John Chambers said exactly what I am telling you though not with this explanation.

[NRao]

[Aditya_V]

Suppose they were tempted to reveal Qatari secrets to Israel. What should be the penalty? After all, Qatar did give them a responsible task that provided access to secrets.
If they have betrayed Qatari trust then they have damaged India and Indians.

If you belive Qatar I have a Railway station to sell. Qatar Submarine project is bogus. They were probably lured ìnto Qatar with large sums of money. If GOI had stopped before ex service personal would have thought this is bureaucratic jealousy. Remember Qatar ruling royals are close Paki military establishment and they desperately want Rahul Gandhi as PM. This issue can get solved only after GE 24.

[vimal]

In general, why is it that every messed up hotspot in the world has millions of Indians stuck. Even after multiple warnings or beheadings they will wait for chai wala to rescue them. Once they reach India they will beat Modi and BJP and suck up to their sheikhs.

[Atmavik]

In general, why is it that every messed up hotspot in the world has millions of Indians stuck. Even after multiple warnings or beheadings they will wait for chai wala to rescue them. Once they reach India they will beat Modi and BJP and suck up to their sheikhs.

Just too many of us. apparently there are a few in GAZA of all places. not sure how they even got in ?

[vimal]

In general, why is it that every messed up hotspot in the world has millions of Indians stuck. Even after multiple warnings or beheadings they will wait for chai wala to rescue them. Once they reach India they will beat Modi and BJP and suck up to their sheikhs.

Just too many of us. apparently there are a few in GAZA of all places. not sure how they even got in ?

The same way they reached Afghanistan with their converted hindu wives in tow

[A_Gupta]

India's strength is it has a labor supply, India's weakness is that they earn more abroad.

[S_Madhukar]

I hope we at least can do some naval exercises with our carrier group in the vicinity of these Gas bags or are we just happy making fun of the lizard while shying away ourselves. Hate to see us hands tied otherwise

[Pratyush]

Gentlemen,

Please get real.

India has no military options against Quatar. Blockade is a military tool.

Not when the US 5th fleet is based in that country and the USA is beating drums of war with Iran. While they are striking Iranian assets in Syria.

India has to try quite diplomacy with this country.

While i hope that India won't have to pay a high cost to get our men home. But the timing is not very good.

[Aditya_V]

Gentlemen,

Please get real.

India has no military options against Quatar. Blockade is a military tool.

Not when the US 5th fleet is based in that country and the USA is beating drums of war with Iran. While they are striking Iranian assets in Syria.

India has to try quite diplomacy with this country.

While i hope that India won't have to pay a high cost to get our men home. But the timing is not very good.

the only option is covert killing of Qataris if they kill our retired personal, but nothing can be done overtly as Qatar is US protectorate state. Even Israel cant kill or Kidnap Hams leaders in Qatar who are sitting a room away from US military personal.

[chetak]

Gentlemen,

Please get real.

India has no military options against Quatar. Blockade is a military tool.

Not when the US 5th fleet is based in that country and the USA is beating drums of war with Iran. While they are striking Iranian assets in Syria.

India has to try quite diplomacy with this country.

While i hope that India won't have to pay a high cost to get our men home. But the timing is not very good.

the only option is covert killing of Qataris if they kill our retired personal, but nothing can be done overtly as Qatar is US protectorate state. Even Israel cant kill or Kidnap Hams leaders in Qatar who are sitting a room away from US military personal.

Aditya ji,


diversify sources and de-risk gas supplies and other downstream products from qatar to the extent possible now.

minimize offtake and learn to live with the residual risk by buying more on the spot market.

avoid eyeraan as they are of the same genetic and cultural disposition and even today, harbour an insidious civilizational intent that looks down upon India.

every @hole who invaded us in the past thinks that they can lord it over us, and that includes the afghans. pakis too, in their tattered and mouldy, borrowed ghazi peacock feathers and last but not least, the britshits and their amriki cousins. The goras in the EU are mere camp followers, amriki doormats.

kaneda has just had it brutally rammed up their G7 nether regions by a strong nationalist GoI, because kaneda contemptuously thought that they were dealing with an obsequious colonial, commonwealth dependent India, still wary of the erstwhile masters.

The rest of the colonials have gone on the backfoot but are biding their time

5eyes, my 1@$$

our time will come.......

[Aditya_V]

I think we have already diversified sources, we can also cut off Qatar Airways from Indian flight traffic etc. there are multiple options .

But 2 cents, Europe developed mainly cause their people went all around the world, similarly its our turn to use demographics on our side. People who hate us will use everything's they can to wipe us out from the Planet, so we can't just emotionally think but make cold rational decisions. My suspicion, looking at Owasi and INC leader gloating, once GE 24 is done. This will be solved. The whole is to paint Modi foreign policy failed, i.e if Hindus they can be strong in India, we will target Hindus outside India or Indian interests outside India. Right now we just need to grin and bear it.

Hopefully Indian Industry and Veterans will realize and make sure non of our veterans work in Countries which are soo compromised.

[Cyrano]

BREAKING: Nine Arab countries - Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE - issue joint statement condemning the targeting of civilians and violations of international law in Gaza, adding that self-defence does not justify neglecting the rights of Palestinians.

This Qatar incident is aimed at driving a wedge between India and all the ME countries, and weaken multilateral structures like BRICS, I2U2 , IMEC etc in an opportunistic way, on the back of Gaza conflict.

No matter how many state visits happen, RDay invitations are sent, the relations will remain tentative with these countries. Some are too oil rich and therefore too arrogant to care, others like Egypt, Morocco are too poor/fundamentalist driven to take a reasoned approach.

India has to be vigilant and act in it's national interest always. And invest a lot more in assets that help power projection because as our economy grows, we will have even more interests to defend and people to protect in all corners of the world.

Time to stop this sterile debate on do we need one more A/C or subs etc. We need everything and more.

[Kanoji]

India has to be vigilant and act in it's national interest always. And invest a lot more in assets that help power projection because as our economy grows, we will have even more interests to defend and people to protect in all corners of the world.

Time to stop this sterile debate on do we need one more A/C or subs etc. We need everything and more.

+108, Well said.

[NRao]

End of the world is here. Erdogan is the savior

[sanjayc]

India has to be vigilant and act in it's national interest always. And invest a lot more in assets that help power projection because as our economy grows, we will have even more interests to defend and people to protect in all corners of the world.

Time to stop this sterile debate on do we need one more A/C or subs etc. We need everything and more.

Agree totally. A big stick talks the loudest and its swing is heard by all nice and clear. "Bhey bin hoi na preet"

[bala]

In real reasons behind attack on Bharat, Maj-Gen Rajiv Narayanan contends that the new world order revolves around India and those in the old order are rebelling. Sorass (he has major investments in China and now is in quandary as China is going down) and China are against India. The Quad is against China, and Biden has decided to oppose China, after the Taiwan threat. There is a huge divide in the Deep State, one faction wanting to preserve the old order and the other reluctant about admitting India into the new world order but are forced to due to other extenuating circumstances. The Israel-Hamas war is dividing the entire world into two camps. India is with Israel and the US is with Israel. There is going to be more problems for India because the insidious forces will think of more obstacles for India. Change is fraught with problems, they can pile up quickly and suddenly. India has to be strong and navigate all the challenges adroitly and firmly.

The ex-Navy Indian officers joined a private security firm in Qatar, via a Singapore entity. Now they are under death threat with some false charges. Why did GOI give permission for these ex-navy officers to join such a firm.

India needs a multi-prong approach against Qatar, the MEA tries all diplomatic means and also put pressure on US via Israel, the Indian navy needs to think of ways and means to target Qatar, the labor pool of Indians in Qatar need to pitch in too.