Jaishankar lodges strong protest with US after strikes on merchant ships kill Indian mariners

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday raised with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio the killing of three Indian mariners in a US military strike on a merchant vessel in the Gulf of Oman.

Jaishankar, currently on a visit to Europe, spoke to the US Secretary of State on the phone. "Spoke to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio this evening. I reiterated India's strong protest at the attacks by the US Navy in the Gulf that killed three Indian mariners," the external affairs minister said on social media.

"Such lethal actions against commercial shipping are not justified," he said.

India on Friday summoned Charge d'Affaires Jason Meeks and told him that the American military's lethal strikes on commercial vessels with Indian crew members off the coast of Oman are unacceptable.

A Palau-flagged oil tanker, Marivex, carrying 24 Indian seafarers, was disabled by US forces on June 8. All crew members were safely rescued.

On June 10, the US struck another Palau-flagged tanker, Settebello, killing three out of the 24 Indian sailors on board.

Another vessel, Jalveer, a Guinea-Bissau-flagged tanker with 20 Indians, was attacked on Thursday.