'Not justified': EAM Jaishankar speaks to Rubio, lodges protest over killing of 3 Indian sailors in US Naval attack

Indias External Affairs Minister EAM S Jaishankar spoke to the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and lodged a strong diplomatic protest with the United States after the latters Navy strike on an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman killed three Indian seafarersThe EAM while speaking to his US counterpart Rubio on Friday evening also added that such lethal actions against commercial shipping are not justifiedIn a post on social media platform X EAM Jaishankar wrote Spoke to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio this evening I reiterated Indiarsquos strong protest at the attacks by the US Navy in the Gulf that killed three Indian mariners Such lethal actions against commercial shipping are not justifiedEarlier on Friday the US Charge dAffaires CDA Jason Meeks was summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs MEASpoke to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio this evening I reiterated Indiarsquos strong protest at the attacks by the US Navy in the Gulf that killed three Indian mariners Such lethal actions against commercial shipping are not justifiedmdash Dr S Jaishankar DrSJaishankar June 12 2026A strong protest was lodged with US CDA regarding the continuing attacks by United States naval forces on commercial vessels carrying Indian sailors in the Gulf of Oman which have already resulted in the tragic and avoidable loss of three Indian lives the MEA said in a statementThe Ministry once again conveyed its deep concern over the use of lethal and deadly force against civilian shipping adding that such actions are unacceptable and undermine the safety security and stability of international maritime commerce in a sensitive region at a difficult timeThe US CDA was requested to convey Indias strong concerns to his authorities and to ensure that US forces operating in the region take all necessary measures to prevent the loss of civilian life the MEA added in the statementThe diplomatic intervention comes after Indian authorities confirmed that three crew members initially reported missing following the US military strike have been found deadThe Palauflagged oil tanker Settebello had a crew of 28 people when it was attacked The crew included 24 Indian nationals and four foreign nationals two Pakistanis one Ukrainian and one Russian Twentyone Indian sailors were rescued after the incident while efforts to locate the missing crew members continued until their deaths were confirmedThe US military acknowledged carrying out the strike on the vessel According to US Central Command American forces targeted the tanker after it allegedly failed to comply with instructions from US naval personnel and was attempting to transport oil from Iran in violation of an ongoing American blockadeIn a statement CENTCOM said one of its aircraft fired on the vessel in the Gulf of Oman disabling it after the crew repeatedly failed to comply with directions from US forcesThe strike occurred amid heightened tensions in the region where competing maritime restrictions imposed during the ongoing West Asia conflict have severely disrupted commercial shippingIndia has strongly criticised the attack emphasising that the vessel was carrying a large number of Indian nationals and was engaged in commercial activityThe MEA said attacks on merchant shipping in the region are deeply concerning and linked to the broader conflict in the Middle EastAttacks on shipping in the region are deeply worrisome and a direct result of the ongoing conflict in the region We reiterate our call for immediate deescalation the MEA addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever