New Delhi: India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) summoned a top US diplomat in New Delhi on Wednesday and made its displeasure felt on the missile attack by the US Navy on a tanker near the Strait of Hormuz.
The Palau-flagged tanker MT Settebello was struck off the coast of Oman during the day. The crew included 24 Indian seafarers. While 21 of them were rescued, three are missing.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed on Wednesday that the tanker had been disabled. “US Central Command (CENTCOM) disabled Palau-flagged MT Settebello as it transited the Gulf of Oman. A US aircraft fired precision munitions into the ship’s engine room after the crew repeatedly failed to comply with directions from American forces,” it said.
India’s diplomatic mission in Muscat is closely monitoring the situation and proactively coordinating with the authorities in Oman in the ongoing search and rescue operation following the missile strike on the ship.
At the same time, Jason Meeks, the chargé d’affaires of the US embassy in New Delhi, was summoned to the MEA headquarter
s, where senior officials handed over to him a démarche, conveying concerns over repeated attacks on commercial vessels in the region.
“The continuing incidents of attacks on shipping in the region are deeply worrisome and a direct result of the ongoing conflict in the region,” the MEA stated in a press release issued in New Delhi on Wednesday.
On Monday, the oil tanker MT Marivex, also flying the Palau flag, was struck by a missile from an US Navy aircraft while transiting the Gulf of Oman. The tanker had 24 Indian sailors on board. All of them were safely rescued. The ship was hit after it attempted to sail to a port in Iran, flouting the US blockade against the Persian Gulf nation.
On Wednesday, India reiterated its call for immediate de-escalation of tensions in West Asia, where the conflict between Iran, on one side, and Israel and the US, on the other, had disrupted the maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz – a choke point between the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea.
New Delhi also asked for the conclusion of ongoing negotiations for a diplomatic solution so that peace and stability could return to the West Asian region, Deccan Herald reported.
“The targeting of commercial shipping and civilian infrastructure in the region must end, and free and unimpeded navigation and commerce through the international waterways in the region, in keeping with international law, must be restored at the earliest,” the MEA stated in New Delhi.’
The conflict between Iran and the US-Israel combine had already lasted over 100 days and caused immense human suffering, and it had also had a debilitating impact on the global economy and energy supplies, India noted recently.