S Jaishankar protests deaths of three Indian seafarers in US strikes in call with American official

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday spoke to United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio and registered India’s protest against the US strikes on commercial vessels in the Gulf that killed three Indian seafarers off the coast of Oman.

“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.”

During their conversation, Rubio “stressed that all commercial vessels should immediately comply with orders from US forces as they seek to uphold peace and security in the strait”, the US Department of State’s Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement on Saturday.

Rubio “underscored that violations of the US blockade and the illicit transport of Iranian oil will not be tolerated”, Pigott added.

The conversation came hours after the Ministry of External Affairs said it had summoned the US Chargé d’Affaires, Jason Meeks, for the second consecutive day to convey India’s protest against the continued US strikes on ships carrying Indian crew members in West Asia.

Meeks had also been summoned on Thursday 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...

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