Indian Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar on Monday said the government is making every effort to secure the release of eight former Indian Navy personnel, who were sentenced to death in Qatar last week. Addressing the media on the sidelines of the fourth Goa Maritime Conclave, the Navy chief said, “I have not yet seen the transcript of the court hearing.it was supposed to have been transcribed and provided to us on Sunday..when we get back, we will have a look at it. In fact, you have heard the MEA statement on this. Every effort is being made by the government to ensure that.we take up through the legal recourse and find relief for our personnel.” The Goa Maritime Conclave is the Indian Navy’s outreach initiative providing a multinational platform to discuss contemporary and future maritime challenges and a framework for collaborative mitigation strategies. The theme for this year’s edition is ‘Maritime Security in the Indian Ocean Region’. At the conclave, the Indian Navy is hosting chiefs of navies, heads of maritime forces and senior representatives from 12 Indian Ocean littorals, including Bangladesh, Comoros, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. “The aim of the forum is to find regional solutions to regional problems. While there are larger constructs such as the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), BIMSTEC.sometimes at larger constructs, it is difficult to reach a consensus. When the numbers are smaller, it is easier to arrive at a workable solution in a smaller time frame. At this forum, 12 friendly foreign countries in the Indian Ocean region are participating, we are 13th,” Admiral Kumar said. “Our problems are common. We call them problems without passport. Piracy, drug trafficking, terrorism, arms smuggling.to tackle such problems, we need cooperation and collaboration,” he added. The Navy chief added, “In the last edition, we identified the priorities. This time we are working towards a framework.” On a question of why Pakistan is not part of the forum, he said, “Kyunki wo friendly nahi hai [Because they are not a friendly (country)] We connect with friendly foreign countries.”
