On Friday, June 12, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) summoned US Chargé d’Affaires Jason Meeks for the second time to lodge a formal protest after an American strike on Guinea-Bissau-flagged MT Jalveer.
The ship had 20 Indians onboard who were all rescued safely. Earlier, on Wednesday, June 10, US attacked Settebello tanker off the coast of Oman Which had 24 Indian seafarers. Even though 21 out of them were rescued, 3 Indians lost their lives in the US strikes.
Earlier, on Monday, June 8, a Palau-flagged oil tanker, Marivex, carrying 24 Indians on board, was disabled by US forces.
These repeated attacks by the United States on ships, with Indian seafarers on board, have raised concerns within India over the safety of Indians passing through the conflict-ridden region.
The American diplomat Jason Meeks was called in by the Additional Secretary (Americas) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). He was earlier summoned on Wednesday after the attack on Settebello tanker.
The US has said that they targeted these ships as they were either headed to an Iranian port or were transporting Iranian oil. Notably, US has put a blockade on ships passing through the region in response to Iran blocking Strait of Hormuz in early March this year.
