India vows 'strict action' after attack on cargo ship off its coast in Arabian Sea

NEW DELHI

India on Tuesday vowed "strict action" against those behind the attack on a merchant ship off its western coast in Arabian Sea.

India has taken the attacks very seriously, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said in his address to the commissioning ceremony of Imphal, the navy's latest stealth-guided missile destroyer.

"We will find them (those behind the attacks) even from the seabed and strict action will be taken against them," Singh vowed.

On Saturday, chemical tanker Chem Pluto was hit by a drone attack in the Arabian Sea, while oil tanker MV Sai Baba with Indians onboard was attacked in the Red Sea.

Amid attacks on ships in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea, India on Monday said it had deployed warships as a force deterrent in the region.

Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have significantly stepped up their involvement in the current conflict in the Gaza Strip by targeting vessels in the southern Red Sea.

According to the Indian Defense Ministry, Imphal's commissioning marked the formal induction of the third of four indigenous Visakhapatnam-class destroyers.

Imphal, the first warship named after a city in the country's northeast, sailed for its maiden sea sortie earlier this year and underwent comprehensive trials in harbor and at sea.

It successfully completed the first test-firing of extended range Brahmos missile prior to its commissioning, making it "weapon-ready," the ministry said.

It is armed with sophisticated state-of-the-art weapons and sensors, including surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles.