Strait of Hormuz incident | Deplorable: India after ship bound for Kandla attacked

“The company is working with the relevant authorities to rescue these three missing crew members,” it said, adding that the remaining 20 crew members had been safely evacuated and were ashore in Oman.

Iran Guards said in a statement carried by the Tasnim news agency that the ship was “fired upon by Iranian fighters”, suggesting the first direct engagement by the Guards who have previously fired missiles or drones. Hours later, the Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi said, “The ship was bound for Kandla in India.” It said, “India deplores the fact that commercial shipping is being made a target of military attacks…Precious lives, including of Indian citizens, have already been lost in multiple such attacks… and the intensity and lethality of the attacks only seems to be increasing.”

Thai cargo ship, Mayuree Naree, that was struck and set ablaze in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday. (AP)

“India reiterates that targeting commercial shipping and endangering innocent civilian crew members, or otherwise impeding freedom of navigation and commerce, should be avoided,” it said.

Earlier in the day, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke to his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov and European Union’s Foreign Policy chief Kaja Kallas amid the war raging in West Asia that completed 12 days. “A good telecon with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of Russia. Shared our assessments on the West Asia conflict and related diplomatic efforts. Also took stock of our bilateral cooperation agenda,” Jaishankar said on X.

The Jaishankar-Lavrov conversation came days after the US said it is issuing a temporary 30-day waiver to New Delhi to allow Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil in view of disruptions in the energy market.

Jaishankar also said he held “useful” discussion on the West Asia conflict and its repercussions with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kallas.

The Ministry of External Affairs’ spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Wednesday, “The welfare of a diaspora is of utmost priority, high priority and importance to us…we remain committed to the welfare of our citizens, our nationals who reside in the GCC and the West Asian countries. All our missions in the region are in regular touch with our community members.”

(With inputs from Reuters & AP from Dubai)

Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 25 years now. Roy joined The Indian Express in October 2003 and has been reporting on foreign affairs for more than 17 years now. Based in Delhi, he has also led the National government and political bureau at The Indian Express in Delhi — a team of reporters who cover the national government and politics for the newspaper. He has got the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award for Excellence in Journalism ‘2016. He got this award for his coverage of the Holey Bakery attack in Dhaka and its aftermath. He also got the IIMCAA Award for the Journalist of the Year, 2022, (Jury’s special mention) for his coverage of the fall of Kabul in August 2021 — he was one of the few Indian journalists in Kabul and the only mainstream newspaper to have covered the Taliban’s capture of power in mid-August, 2021. ... Read More

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