India summons the U.S. Embassy’s Deputy Chief of Mission, Jason Meeks, for a second time within three days to protest U.S. military strikes on commercial vessels near the Omani coast, according to multiple reports. The latest protest follows U.S. CENTCOM actions that target a tanker carrying an Indian crew off the Gulf of Oman area. The sources say the summons is aimed at conveying New Delhi’s displeasure over the strikes and the safety of Indian nationals involved with shipping in the region.
The previous summons also involved Meeks and occurred on Wednesday, after a U.S. navy attack that killed three Indian sailors aboard a Palau-flagged oil products tanker named Settebello, Reuters reported. Across the outlets, the core point is that India is escalating diplomatic complaints to the United States over incidents in which American forces strike or attack commercial shipping carrying Indians or Indian crew members off Oman. The reports do not provide details in this summary on the U.S. rationale for the strikes or any subsequent responses from Washington.
