I had a friend who came with an Indian International License but was not given a Qatari license right away. They agreed for a temporary license but asked him to take a road test afterwords, which regretfully he flunked with flying colors. I also heard that the reason they do not give over the counter is because lot of people sit in Qatar and get a driving license sent to them via post... Corruption and money talks in India.

So he had to register in a driving school and take the entire test, but his temporary license was not revoked. Not sure how it works. If you have a western license you are given one over the counter.

Maybe if you have driven in a western country with your Indian license and can prove it they might give you one right away...don't know.

But by logic if you are able to drive in India you can drive anywahere in the world, dodging people and cows and pigs and what not is a talent on its own, but lack of road discipline in the subcontinent is something Indian drivers have to come to terms with and correct. Good luck to you...

And by the way there is no easy way out here for a license, you got to do what a man's got to do to get one... :-) .