Indians are also increasingly becoming targets in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. India on Thursday expressed disappointment and said that in the last 4 days, the US Navy attacked 3 commercial ships with Indian crew near the coast of Oman, in this attack 3 Indians were killed. India has lodged a strong protest with America regarding these attacks.
The conflict has been going on in the Gulf for more than 100 days. But for the first time, New Delhi has now publicly admitted that the US Navy targeted these 3 ships with Indian crew. New Delhi stressed to Washington that these attacks should be stopped completely.
Palau flag on the ship, crew member Indian
Earlier on June 8, the US Army destroyed the Palau flagged oil tanker ‘Marivex’, on which 24 Indian sailors were aboard. However, all the crew members were rescued safely in the attack. Subsequently, on June 10, the US attacked another Palau-flagged tanker, ‘Settebello’, killing three of the 24 Indian sailors on board.
And now yesterday on Thursday (June 11), another ship ‘Jalveer’ was attacked, which was a Guinea-Bissau flagged tanker and there were 20 Indians on board. India has expressed deep displeasure regarding these attacks.
US Navy carried out these attacks: Foreign Ministry
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a press briefing yesterday that the three separate attacks on ‘Marivex’, ‘Setebello’ and ‘Jalveer’ were “carried out by the US Navy”.
In a post on social media about the attack, US Central Command said the Zalveer was “destroyed” after a fighter plane fired two Hellfire missiles into the ship’s engine room after the crew “disobeyed US military instructions.” It said the Zalveer “violated the blockade against Iran by attempting to carry Iranian oil.”
Three Indians were killed in the attack on ‘Setebelo’, after which the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) summoned America’s Chargé d’Affaires Jason Meeks and handed him a demarche or diplomatic note of protest.
We have registered our strong protest: MEA
“We attach utmost importance to the well-being and safety of our seafaring community. When ‘Setebello’ was attacked, we lodged a strong protest with the US side,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a media briefing between the ministries. He also said, “We called the officer-in-charge of the US Embassy and conveyed our deep concern over the continuing incidents of such attacks. We also lodged our strong protest.”
Jaiswal also stressed that these attacks “must stop”. He said, “We have also said that dialogue and diplomacy are the only path to a peaceful resolution of this dispute, and in accordance with international law there should be unhindered movement through the Strait of Hormuz.” He further said, “We made our stand clear on all these points and also reiterated how important the lives, well-being and safety of our people are.”
Why were ships attacked?
He also said that 2 of the 3 ships were subject to sanctions imposed by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), while one ship was considered non-compliant. OFAC is the financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the US Treasury Department and takes action against ships that violate US sanctions on the sale of Iranian and Russian oil.
The Ministry of External Affairs also said, “All three ships involved in these incidents were foreign-flagged ships. Two of these ships were Palau flagged, while the third ship was Guinea-Bissau flagged. These ships were not Indian-owned.” US Central Command has confirmed the attacks on Setebello and Marivaux, but has not commented on the alleged attacks on Jalveer. He also said that the Seaman Welfare Fund Society has been asked to provide an assistance of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of each deceased.
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