India on Friday summoned the US Charge’s d’affaires (CDA) for the second time in less than 48 hours, as fears for the safety of Indian seafarers on board ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz heightened Thursday when the US military attacked MT Jalveer, a Guinea-Bissau-flagged tanker, near the Oman coast, the third such incident in the area in four days. All 22 Indian seafarers on board were safely evacuated after the missile strike.
The summoning of the US CDA Jason Meeks took place on Friday afternoon, where MEA’s Additional Secretary (Americas division), Nagaraj Naidu called him in, to convey India’s concerns about the safety and security of Indians on ships stranded on the Strait of Hormuz.
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In a statement, the MEA said, “A strong protest was lodged with him regarding the continuing attacks by U.S. 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.”
It added, “The Ministry once again conveyed its deep concern over the use of lethal and deadly force against civilian shipping. Such actions are unacceptable and undermine the safety, security and stability of international maritime commerce in a sensitive region at a difficult time.”
The statement further said, “The U.S. Chargé d’Affaires was requested to convey India’s strong concerns to his authorities and to ensure that U.S. forces operating in the region take all necessary measures to prevent the loss of civilian life.
Meeks’s visit came after the June 10 summoning, when for the first time in its dealings with the Trump administration, India had summoned a top US diplomat in New Delhi following an attack earlier in the day by American forces on a commercial ship off the coast of Oman. Of the 24 Indian seafarers on the ship Settebello, 21 were rescued while three were killed.
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The attack on MT Jalveer took place on the day Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, confirmed the death of three Indian seafarers, reported missing a day earlier from MT Settebello after it was attacked – of the 24 Indians on board, 21 had been rescued.
The Indian Embassy in Muscat said the evacuation of the MT Jalveer crew to Shinas port was coordinated with assistance from the Royal Navy of Oman and all 22 Indians on board had been safely brought to shore.
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Claiming that MT Jalveer “attempted to transport oil from Iran through the Gulf of Oman”, the US Central Command had said, “A US aircraft fired two Hellfire missiles into the ship’s engine room after the crew repeatedly failed to comply with directions from US forces.”
It said the tanker was “disabled” in the Gulf of Oman “after the vessel violated the blockade against Iran by attempting to transport Iranian oil, marking the third commercial ship disabled by American forces this week”.
“Earlier this week, US aircraft disabled Palau-flagged vessels MT Marivex and MT Settebello on Monday and Tuesday, respectively. Marivex violated the blockade by attempting to sail to an Iranian port and Settebello attempted to transport Iranian oil,” the CENTCOM had said.
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It is learnt that MT Jalveer had already been fired at by an American aircraft last month. On May 15, it received warning shots approximately 30 nautical miles off the Oman coast and was directed to turn back toward the Gulf of Oman.
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The attacks on commercial vessels, the resumption of military strikes by US and Iran and the issue of maritime security frame both diplomatic and economic challenges for G7 leaders meeting next week at Evian-les-Bains in eastern France – Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump will be among world leaders at the meeting.
Modi is undertaking an official visit to France – June 13-14 (Nice), June 16-18 (Evian and Paris) – and Slovakia from June 14-16.
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Late Wednesday night, the Ministry of External Affairs had summoned the US charge d’affaires in New Delhi and lodged a protest after the attack on MT Settebello.
“We had summoned the US CDA (Jason Meeks) to register a protest on the attack that happened on this commercial vessel off the coast of Oman. Three Indian nationals have died in that incident,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said on Thursday.
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“We have conveyed our deepest concerns on these incidents and the string of attacks happening. And we hope and expect that these would end, these would come to an immediate halt,” he said, underlining “our deep concerns regarding targeting of commercial ships, of marine personnel, as also civilian infrastructure”.