MEA summons US diplomat again, protests against continued strikes on ships with Indian crew

The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday said that it had summoned the United States’ Chargé d’Affaires Jason Meeks for the second consecutive day to register its protest against the continued US strikes on ships with Indian crew members in West Asia.

New Delhi said that it had “once again conveyed its deep concern over the use of lethal and deadly force against civilian shipping”.

A chargé d’affaires represents a country’s diplomatic mission in the absence of an ambassador. Sergio Gor, the US ambassador to India, is in Kazakhstan.

The actions by the US military “are unacceptable and undermine the safety, security and stability of the international maritime commerce in a sensitive region at a difficult time”, the ministry stated.

It added that Meeks was asked to convey New Delhi’s concerns to Washington and to ensure that the US military units operating in the region “take all necessary measures to prevent the loss of civilian life”.

Meeks had also been summoned on Thursday by the ministry to register a protest against Wednesday’s strike on a commercial tanker off the coast of Oman in which three Indians were killed.

Twenty-one members of the crew had been rescued from the Palau-flagged tanker Settebello.

On Thursday, Randhir Jaiswal, the external affairs ministry spokesperson, said that New Delhi had informed Meeks of...

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