External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday spoke to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, registering a strong protest against the attacks by American naval forces that led to the deaths of three
Indian seafarers this week.
Taking to X, Jaishankar wrote: “Spoke to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio this evening. I reiterated India’s strong protest at the attacks by the US Navy in the Gulf that killed three Indian mariners. Such lethal actions against commercial shipping are not justified.”
A day ago, the Ministry of External Affairs summoned the US charge d’affaires (CDA), Jason Meeks, and lodged its protest over the series of attacks on commercial vessels carrying Indian mariners in the Gulf of Oman.
The government has confirmed the death of three Indian seafarers, who were missing since Wednesday from MT Settebello after it was attacked — of the 24 Indians on board, 21 were rescued.
On Thursday again, US forces fired Hellfire missiles into the engine room of MT Jalveer, a Guinea-Bissau-flagged tanker, near the Oman coast. All 20 Indian seafarers on board were safely evacuated.
CDA Jason Meeks was summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs where K Nagaraj Naidu, Additional Secretary (Americas division), conveyed India’s concerns.