New Delhi: Though President Donald Trump blamed Iran for “drone attack” on Indian ships exiting the Strait of Hormuz, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government on Friday again summoned the acting United States envoy in New Delhi and strongly protested continued attacks by the American Navy on vessels with mariners from the country in the Gulf of Oman.
Jason Meeks, the Chargé d’Affaires of the US embassy in New Delhi, was again summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs on Friday when the senior officials conveyed India’s “deep concern” over the use of “lethal and deadly force” by the American Navy against civilian shipping near the Strait of Hormuz.
“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, which have already resulted in the tragic and avoidable loss of three Indian lives,” the MEA stated in a press release after summoning the Chargé d’Affaires of the diplomatic mission of New Delhi.
Meeks had earlier been summoned to the MEA headquarters on Wednesday following the back-to-back US military offensive against MT Marivex and MT Settebello, both sailing under the flag of Palau, in the Gulf of Oman.
The MT Marivex had 24 seafarers on board, all of whom were rescued by the Royal Navy of Oman after the attack on it on Monday. The attack on the MT Settebello on Wednesday, however, led to the death of three Indians – Deck Cadet Aditya Sharma, Engine Fitter Shivanand Chaurasiya and Chief Engineer Patnala Suresh – while 21 others were rescued.
After MT Jalveer, sailing under the flag of Guinea-Bissau, came under attack from a US military aircraft on Thursday, the Royal Navy of Oman rescued 20 Indian seafarers.
The US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) justified its strikes on the vessels, stating that MT Marivex had violated the blockade by attempting to sail to a port of Iran, and MT Settebello and MT Jalveer had attempted to transport oil from Iran.
The current crisis in the Strait of Hormuz began when Tehran restricted and later closed shipping through the narrow waterway between the Persian Gulf, on one side, and the Gulf of Oman and the wider Arabian Sea, on the other, following the launch of the US-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28.
The US retaliated with a naval blockade of the ports of Iran from April 13.
None of the three ships, hit and disabled by the US forces this week, was owned or operated by any entity in or linked to India. They, however, had seafarers from India.
Meanwhile, Trump, in a post on Truth Social on Friday, alleged that Iran had carried out “drone attack” on Indian ships exiting the Strait of Hormuz “last night”. He said that the attacks were “totally unacceptable” and “totally rebuffed”.
New Delhi neither confirmed nor denied any “drone attack” by Iran on Indian ships.
The MEA on Friday stated that the attacks on the commercial ships were “unacceptable and undermine the safety, security and stability of international maritime commerce in a sensitive region at a difficult time”.