 By IANS
Dubai : The Indian mission in Doha is taking steps to repatriate 41 Indian nationals who have been stranded at sea off the coast of Qatar for more than 45 days now.
The group had accidentally strayed into Qatar's territorial waters and their vessels were seized by the country's coast guard March 25.
Indian Ambassador George Joseph said the mission was exploring all possible channels to speed up the repatriation of the Indians – mostly fishermen from south India, Gulf Times reported.
The detained fishermen have since been put on a barge belonging to the Qatari coast guard, positioned two nautical miles from the main land.
The Indian mission was also seeking cooperation from its counterpart in Saudi Arabia to resolve the issue.
The Indians, most of them new expats, had left Al-Katheeb, near Dammam in Saudi Arabia in seven boats March 20.