New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Thursday spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio over the phone and conveyed India’s strong protest over the deaths of three Indian sailors in US naval strikes in the Gulf region. In a post on X, Jaishankar said, “I spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio this evening. I reiterated India’s strong protest regarding the U.S. naval attacks in the Gulf that resulted in the deaths of three Indian sailors.”
He further stated that such deadly actions against commercial vessels cannot be justified under any circumstances.
MEA Registers Strong Protest
Jason Meeks, the Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy, was summoned by Nagaraj Naidu, Additional Secretary (Americas) in the Ministry of External Affairs in the Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan and lodged a strong protest over the attacks.
The Ministry of External Affairs made it clear that such attacks, which endanger the lives of Indian sailors, are completely unacceptable. It also called for ensuring the safety and security of commercial vessels amid rising regional tensions.
Meeks had also been summoned on Wednesday night regarding the matter.
A commercial tanker named Setebelo, registered in Palau, was attacked by the United States near the coast of Oman on June 10. There were 24 Indian sailors on board. Twenty-one sailors were rescued, while three lost their lives. The deceased were Deck Cadet Aditya Sharma, Fitter Shivanand Chaurasia, and Chief Engineer Patnala Suresh.
Earlier, on June 8, the vessel Marivex and on June 11, the ship Jalveer were also attacked. In these two incidents, the lives of more than 40 Indian sailors were put at risk.
European weapons used against India; US urged Russian oil purchases after Ukraine war: Jaishankar
European countries sell weapons that are used against India, but New Delhi has never done anything to endanger Europe’s security, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said.
His sharp remarks came in response to a question on India allegedly adopting a “morally ambiguous” position on the Russia-Ukraine war during an interactive session held in Finland on Thursday.
Speaking at the Kultaranta Talks, the minister also said the US had “specifically” asked India to buy Russian oil to stabilise the global energy market after the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.
“No European country has been attacked with Indian weapons. I wish I could say that for European weapons vis-a-vis India. So keep that in mind,” Jaishankar said.
“Europeans sell weapons which are used to attack India. Not now. For many, many years,” he said in an apparent reference to the long-standing supply of military equipment by several European countries to Pakistan.
“We Indians have never done anything to endanger Europe,” Jaishankar added.
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