Jaishankar raises death of three Indian mariners with Rubio, slams US strikes
Jaishankar raised with Marco Rubio the deaths of three Indian mariners in US strikes on merchant vessels in the Gulf of Oman and called the attacks unjustified
New Delhi, Jun 13 (PTI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday raised with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio the killing of three Indian mariners in a US military strike on a merchant vessel in the Gulf of Oman.
Jaishankar, currently on a visit to Europe, spoke to the US Secretary of State on phone.
Following the conversation, the external affairs minister described the "lethal" actions by the US military against commercial shipping as unjustified.
"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," Jaishankar said on social media.
"Such lethal actions against commercial shipping are not justified," he said.
India on Friday summoned US Charge d'Affaires Jason Meeks and told him that the American military's lethal strikes on commercial vessels with Indian crew members off the coast of Oman are unacceptable.
The senior diplomat was summoned on Wednesday night as well.
A Palau-flagged oil tanker, Marivex, carrying 24 Indian seafarers, was disabled by US forces on June 8. All crew members were safely rescued.
On June 10, the US struck another Palau-flagged tanker, Settebello, killing three out of the 24 Indian sailors on board.
Another vessel, Jalveer, a Guinea-Bissau-flagged tanker with 20 Indians, was attacked on Thursday.
Following the attack on Jalveer, India said three merchant ships with Indian crew members came under attack from American military off the coast of Oman this week resulting in the death of three nationals.
It was New Delhi's first public acknowledgement that US Navy targeted the three ships with Indian crew members.
After Meeks was summoned on Friday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said a "strong protest" was lodged with him regarding the continuing attacks by US naval forces on commercial vessels carrying Indian mariners in the Gulf of Oman.
The ministry said it once again "conveyed its deep concern over the use of lethal and deadly force against civilian shipping". PTI