India's top diplomat says he protested to Rubio over US attacks on vessels in Gulf

India’s top diplomat said Friday that in talks with the US secretary of state, he protested US attacks on vessels off the coast of Oman amid the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

“Spoke to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio this evening,” External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar wrote on US social media company X.

“I reiterated India’s 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 justified,” he added.

India on Friday summoned the top US diplomat in New Delhi for the second time in a week to protest the attacks, official sources told Anadolu.

Jason Meeks, the charge d’affaires of the US diplomatic mission, was summoned to the Indian External Affairs Ministry over the attacks, the sources said.

On Thursday, the Indian government said that at least three Indians were killed after US forces targeted the vessels off the coast of Oman.

According to the US Central Command, this week it disabled the Guinea-Bissau-flagged M/T Jalveer and Palau-flagged tankers M/T Marivex and M/T Settebello for trying to transport Iranian oil.